Why does "punitive electricity price" mention again?

On February 27, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "12th Five-Year Plan" for industrial energy conservation. In an interview with the media, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revealed that it will “establish and implement as soon as possible the punitive tariff policy based on energy consumption exceeding the limit”. This information has attracted widespread attention from all walks of life.

In fact, implementing "punitive tariffs" is not new. In May 2010, the State Council has proposed at the national teleconference on energy-saving and emission reduction work that a punitive price policy will be applied to industries whose energy consumption exceeds the energy consumption (power consumption) quota standards for products of national and local units. This is the first time that the country has mentioned "punitive tariffs." The purpose is to strengthen the rectification of high-energy-consuming industries.

However, after a lapse of two years, why is the "punitive price" still mentioned? Why the news about the introduction of a punitive tariff policy can still cause hot debates in the market? There is only one reason, that is, the enforcement of punitive electricity prices is still open to question.

Needless to say, the implementation process of punitive electricity prices is a process of interest adjustment involving the interests of high energy-consuming enterprises, power companies and local governments. The central government’s policy appeals based on economic restructuring and energy conservation and emission reduction must be established in effective coordination of the three parties. Based on benefits. Among them, the attitude of local governments has obviously played a decisive role.

"Ensure growth" or "control energy consumption" is a dilemma in China today. In the past two years, many local governments still put the former in the first place. With the increasing intensity of the state's control of total energy consumption, it remains to be seen whether measures like "punitive tariffs" can really be implemented.