CRI听力:China to Reform Electricity Pricing Mechanism

The National Development and Reform Commission has announced that the country will initiate a tiered pricing system for household electricity consumption in the first half of this year.

What do residents think about the new pricing system?

"I think the pricing system is good."

"I have to save on electricity to save money."

"It would cause inconvenience to my family."

"It would be a problem for old people like me because I have to pay attention to reading of the electricity meter all the time."

According to the new system, electricity prices for residential users would be charged in three tiers in accordance with the amount of power consumed.

80 percent of households will be included in the first tier. For these households, electricity rates will not be raised. The price for the second tier will be 0.05 yuan per kilowatt hour higher than the first tier, while the third tier will be 0.3 yuan higher than the second tier.

Peng Sen, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, explains that tiered electricity pricing is a good embodiment of the principle for properly adjusting income distribution.

"High income families which are 5% of the overall population consume 24% of the total residential electricity, and high power consumption families which take up 10% of the entire population use up 33% of electricity."

Lin Boqiang, the head of China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiaomen University, agrees with this idea. He also points out that the new system shows that China is marching toward market-oriented pricing of resource products.

"80% of China's electricity is generated by coal. Over the past five years, the price of coal has increased twice, so the electricity companies are experiencing a deficit. It's hard to maintain residential electricity at such a low price."

Professor Lin Boqiang states that the significance of the new pricing system is to cultivate residents' awareness of energy conservation and emission reductions.

"For example, in a province where the local government sets the amount of electricity for the first tier at 200 kilowatt hours, if a family consumes 215 kilowatt hours every month, they would think of how to reduce it to 200. By doing this, residents can form good habits."

Professor Lin also says that residents don't have to worry about price hikes because the first tier can satisfy the basic daily needs of most households.

For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao.