The Legal Issues On The Market-oriented Transformation Of Electric Power Industry

The restructuring of electric power is not only a systematic program but also links with all aspects of economic life. In particular, it has become one of the primary tasks of state-owned assets reform and the construction of socialism market system. During the restructuring, we have to be in face of a series of difficult choices between freedom and control, monopolization and competition, efficiency and justice, government and market. First and foremost, through the comparative analysis of all sorts of operation models of electric power industry, we chooses market-oriented road primarily and put the competition and efficiency on the basic status. At the same time, we should restrain and standardize the functions of necessary natural monopoly section and governmental regulation to prevent neglecting the malpractice of government-control failure during administering the governance of market failure. It is because the maximum use of market power is more directed against electric power industry of China which was used to government control and caters to the market needs of optimal distribution of resources.At length, systematic market institution must be set up to fulfill the market-oriented transformation of electric power system. Firstly, it is the precondition of realizing fair competition in producing electric power goods that we should perfect the property rights system of electric power resources. Especially, water power resources, as one of those natural resources, is an important object of water power's property rights, it is necessary for the commercialization of electric products to clarify the property rights of water power, adequate attention should be paid to the clarification of water power's property rights. Secondly, market competition still requires the permission of free and fair market entering. As a result, the competition in electric generation is based on the freedom of investment in electric power industry. To achieve the competition, it is essential to introduce the investors other than the state and to realize the multiple resources of investment and the publicity and transparency of investment approval system. Thirdly, characterized as a pipeline industry, the reform of other fields in this industry is infeasible unless the natural monopoly of wire network is restrained and regulated. Therefore, we should create essential market environment for competition in other fields through the corporation of wire network and the implement of essential governmental regulation. Finally, electric power price is a primary means in market competition. Regulating or openingpower price has been the core of contention. While in fact, it is the reform that provides a regulatory power pricing system and keeps fair competition order by means of law, which market requires.To sum up, the restructuring of electric power system is suggested to be market-oriented, which means realizing the reasonable distribution of resources through adjusting the contents and methods of governmental regulation, and meanwhile to provide the public with cheap and safe electric power goods besides improving efficiency.