How do you want to change your voice every day?

Recently, media reported that the new electric reform program has issued comments and repeated amendments to relevant agencies and has issued relevant opinions to solicit opinions. The draft of the Exposure drafted the principle of “opening up the two ends and supervising the middle” and proposed the “four release, one independence, and one strengthening”: the power generation plan will be liberalized, ie, the government will no longer formulate a power generation plan; the electricity price will be released except for the transmission and distribution price. In addition to the national nuclear power system, power plants and users can directly establish electricity prices for trade; open the distribution side, add new distribution networks, and allow social capital to enter; set up a power sales company to allow private capital to enter; trade institutions Independence; strengthen grid planning.

The worrying thing is that the program is very lively and slogans are loud, but there are actually few new ideas and “dry cargoes”: transmission and distribution prices, direct transactions, and enhanced planning are all years of calls; transactions are independent. The tail of a Gecko can either be broken or born; the incremental release of power distribution, and the sale of electricity and private capital to enter it are new ideas, but it can be expected that its destiny will not be much better than that of large users.

Therefore, at this time, it is necessary to discuss the "minimal mode" and reasonable path of electric reform. What is the "minimal mode"? There are two basic rules. First, "the most necessary", even if only this one move can basically reach the goal of reform; second is "irreversible", even if the follow-up reform stagnation will not be harmful and retrogressive.

Based on these criteria, in the previous 30 years of power reform, only “separation of plants and networks” could be described as achieving the “minimum reform method.” Before and after this, the power system adjustment and government power management methods have been carried out, especially for several offices. The implementation of electricity is actually "power generation and release". It was implemented in large and small places 20 years before the "separation of plant and network". However, these cannot reach the "minimal mode" but only the gradual change and quantitative change of the system.

Looking at today's electric power industry, many contradictions are intertwined and electric reforms such as warm boiled frogs lack real power. Nowadays, the three items of examination and approval of price, price, and project are bitten together; competitive businesses and monopolistic businesses are bitten together; administrative monopolies and natural monopolies are biting together; policy-related businesses and market-based businesses are biting together; Businesses bite together; upstream and downstream reforms as well as the interests of the central government bite together; intrinsic transmission and distribution with strong connections bite together. Many institutional factors are stirred together like a "crab in a razor clam" and cannot climb out.

Where to start the reform, it has always been the most heated debate in the circle. From the perspective of reform effectiveness, the reform should start with the most crucial link; from the perspective of the reform methodology, the reform should begin with the “weakest link”.

The minimum goal of this round of electricity reform should be to restore the attributes of energy goods, make the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources, and build a (buy) market that buys more and sells more, allowing (off-site) buyers and sellers to have competition and choices.

To achieve this reform goal, the current minimum reform should be "separation of online sales," the establishment of purchase and sale of electricity service companies. This is both the key link and the "weakest link."

The purchase and sale of electricity service companies shall bear all marketing activities of the existing grid companies (including meter reading, charging, contracts, settlement, electricity consumption information, energy-saving services, low-voltage troubleshooting, and payment for clean energy subsidies), and shall publish all initial transmission and distribution tariffs simultaneously.

After the establishment of the purchase and sale of electricity service companies, there should be a period of transition. During the transition period, the electricity generation price for electricity generation/user list price/sales/sales/sales/sales relationship for purchase and sale of electricity shall be “three non-moving”. The next step is to build the spot market in sub-regions. Two-part price, real-time electricity price and nodal electricity price should be adopted to ensure clear time signals and spatial signals. At the same time, users should be released by provinces and set minimum standards and timetables; The purchase and sale of electricity companies, power generation companies priority.

As for options such as transaction independence, scheduling independence, separation of transmission and distribution, regional power grid, separation of main and auxiliary divisions, demerger listing, and overall listing, all are subject to regulatory requirements, and mature conditions are followed, and conditions are not mature.

1. It must be made clear that "the sale of electricity is released" does not mean that "net sales are separated," just as "generation of electricity is released" does not mean that "the separation of plant and network". As early as in the 1980s, our country started to build local power and so on, and it realized the release of electricity. However, if it is not the separation of factories and networks, it will not be possible to achieve today’s reform and development achievements.

2. The purchase and sale of electricity service companies is a company that undertakes policy and universal services. As I said before, business segmentation needs to distinguish four quadrants—competitive and monopolistic businesses are separated, and policy and market-based businesses are also separated.

The whole process of power sales is a competitive link, but not all power sales businesses can be pushed to the market. Many small and medium-sized users, rural users, and users that have not been liberalized at the moment need someone to “carry”. Therefore, it is a policy service company and a “bout” of power sales companies. In addition, for the generating party, coal-fired power generation and nuclear power can be released, but it is impossible for hydropower and new energy sources to be fully liberalized at one time, and full purchasers are required. If cheap hydropower is released at one time, it will inevitably result in fluctuations in electricity prices, unreasonable transfer of wealth, and high-priced new energy sources also require buyers.

3. The purchase and sale of electricity service companies should be the managers of user funds and clean energy funds. Cross-subsidization among various types of users is a fact. When releasing users, care should be taken to clarify the number of users to be protected and the size of cross-subsidies, and to make up for the hidden subsidies. This will be borne by a specialized agency, the purchase and sale of electricity service companies. A responsibility. The current renewable energy fund should be changed to a clean energy fund. There must also be a manager and it cannot be directly managed by the government. The function of protecting the managers of user funds and clean energy funds may last for a long time and will be co-ordinated across the country.

4. The purchase and sale of electricity service companies is also the capacity electricity charge manager. After setting up a power purchase and sales company, it is necessary to build a market and must implement a two-part tariff. Capacity electricity tariffs can be divided into provinces and provinces. Local provincial electricity sales and service companies are responsible for the province's capacity balance. Of course, with the gradual establishment of the capacity market, the functions of capacity electricity charge managers will gradually transition.

5. Most of the users of purchase and sale of electricity service companies are small and medium-sized users, especially residents and rural users. Therefore, the company has the characteristics of large cash flow and many employees. The point of asset demarcation between the purchase and sale of electricity service companies can be defined by a power meter. In the era of smart grids and power data, power meters have functions such as electricity bill collection, demand response execution, and so on. Therefore, the purchase and sale of electricity service companies has data. The potential of derivative services, such as information services and financial services, can even enter natural gas and other energy retail and public services in the future.

6. After setting up an electricity sales and service company to separate the marketing business, there will be a game between the pure grid company and the purchase and sale of electricity service companies, and the reasonable transmission and distribution prices will naturally follow. Purely grid companies can only rely on transmission and distribution prices to “eat”, and the government can also monitor according to efficiency factors. At present, the government and regulatory authorities cannot face such a vertically integrated giant grid, and it is difficult for large consumers to purchase electricity directly. Electricity prices are also difficult to introduce. Just as if the factory network did not divide the family home, a reasonable on-grid tariff would not come out.

After the establishment of an electricity sales and service company, it is necessary to do a good job of separating the sales of the network and letting the electricity be released. After the establishment of a power company for purchase and sale, the separation of the main and auxiliary companies in the power grid company will be a natural and conscious thing. There is no need to take it as one of the four steps.

Some people in the industry believe that why not set up a lot of home purchase and sale of electricity service companies at one time? Or decentralized at all levels? Or will the purchase and sale of electricity functions remain in the grid company, and gradually separate from the distribution and distribution business through financial separation and other forms?

Regarding the first question, the author believes that market-based business companies do not engage in policy-based business and monopolistic companies do not engage in competitive business. This should be a common guideline for the reform of a number of energy industries and public utilities, including power reform. The five major power generation companies are the main players in the market competition, and they can engage in market-based pure electricity sales, but they cannot engage in policy-based purchases and sales of electricity.

There are three reasons for the second question. The first point, as mentioned above, is that the company must assume the functions of protecting user funds and clean energy funds, and these are nationally-coordinated; secondly, China’s national resources allocation and The interaction of electricity and energy is an existing advantage. The national unified market is the development goal. There is no need to go against it and separate it. The third point is that national companies do not represent a high degree of concentration. Each provincial electricity sales and service company must independently assume the provinces. Capacity tariff management and capacity balance responsibilities.

The third issue is to leave the policy of purchasing and selling electricity to the grid company and gradually complete the separation through financial separation, organizational separation, and other forms. This is a lot of people's ideas, and it also exists internationally.

But first, as we discussed before, the division of business is divided into four quadrants. Policy-based businesses and monopolistic businesses are not the same thing.

Secondly, choosing this method means that this round of reform will not be able to achieve the “minimum reform method.” That is to say, it is still difficult to claim true physical reform. We may have to wait another decade, just like that year. Twenty years after the release of power generation, it is ultimately necessary to go to separate factories and networks.

Thirdly, the international financial separation model is adopted. However, the legal system and supervision methods of people are much stronger than we currently have. Adopting this model in China has little hope of success, and it is foreseeable that weakly regulated companies will also ending.

Fourthly, there are indeed many international companies that leave the policy-based power sales business in the distribution companies. The one-for-one model, called the power supply company, is generally called the power supply company. However, in general, this model is used to complete the separation of transmission and distribution. In other words, the separation of transmission and distribution and the separation of online sales should be one of the two options, so that it is possible to promote the follow-up reforms and achieve user release and buy more and sell more.

This is back to the previous topic. For the comparison of the two, from the experience of the international power market for more than 20 years, more and more people tend to lose and not necessarily separate because both Judging from the four quadrants of the business division, it belongs to the same quadrant, the difference lies in the monopoly and the small monopoly. At the same time, individuals believe that the strength of the connection between the transmission and distribution is much greater than the strength of the connection between online sales, and the difficulty in the separation of transmission and distribution is greater than the separation of online sales.

Therefore, considering various comparisons, there is nothing wrong with this round of electric power reform and selection and sale of electric power. However, in order to really reform, it must first completely separate the existing power grid company’s marketing business and set up a purchase and sales electric service company as a guarantee and support. Subsequent reform measures can only be implemented in real terms, and the reform goals of selling electricity to sell off and buying more and selling more can only be realized.