The Study Of Government Regulation Of The Electric Power Industry In China

As a basic industry of national economy and people’s livelihood, electric power industrywields great influence on the social and economic development and people’s life. With theestablishment and perfection of the socialist market economic system, the electric powerenterprises have gradually become autonomous and independent business entity. However, asa social public utility, electric power industry is distinguished by strong monopoly andconsequently calls for effective government regulation. In this context, how to deepen thestructural reform in China’s electric power industry, establish the entirely new relationshipadapting to marketing economic development while sticking to the governmental role ofregulation on electric power enterprises, has become a theoretical as well as a practicalproblem demanding deep research on structure.In this thesis, electricity regulation related theories will be systematically combed andhistorical development and current situation of China’s electricity regulation will be analyzedwith the basis of relevant research home and abroad and regulation theories rising from1970s.On this basis, the prominent problems existing in China’s electricity regulation system will beobserved and analyzed with the background of China’s electric power industrial structuralreform; the basic rules to be observed in China’s electricity regulatory reform will besummarized and the specific strategies to build modern electricity regulatory system will beproposed with the reference of the regulatory reform experiences in other developed countriessuch as Britain and America.In this study, theoretical analysis and empirical analysis will be mainly applied to exploreand research on the comparison on system, the historical evolution as well as the practicalneeds of electric power regulation in China and western countries. Specifically, this paper is divided into five parts:The first part is the introduction, involving the background of the topic, its theoreticaland practical significance, current state of overseas and domestic research on electricityregulation, the research method and framework in this thesis.The second part is the theoretical basis analysis of regulation and electricity regulation.Generally speaking, on the theoretical premise of market failure, public interest theory,regulatory capture theory and incentive regulatory theory will be introduced to explain theformation of regulation theories; natural monopoly, scale economy, scope economy andnetwork economy will be examined to illustrate the application of regulation theories inelectricity industry; externality and nature of public utility of electric power industry will beexplained to testify the necessity of regulation on electric power industry.The third part is the evolution and current situation of China’s electric power industryregulation. Regulation of electric power industry in China has basically been through thetraditional planned management system phase, preliminary industrial regulation reform phase,phase of separating enterprises from the government, and the phase of market-oriented reform.The main problems of electric power regulation lie in the inadequacy of electric powerregulation laws, the administration of electric power regulation actions, the imperfection ofelectric power regulation mechanism, the insufficiency of electric power regulationinstitutions, and the deficiency of strategic thinking in electric power regulation.The fourth part is the western countries electricity regulations experience. The electricregulatory reform actions and relevant experiences in western countries will be introducedwith the examples of Britain and America, and pointed out that the regulation of the electricityindustry reform instead of simply a wholesale privatization or the introduction of competitionmechanism. In western countries, the basic experiences of the electricity regulations mainlyinclude the moderately effective regulation, the perfecting regulation of the legal system, and independent electricity regulatory agencies, etc.The fifth part is the strategies will be designed to optimize and improve the electricindustrial regulation. The specific strategies in establishing modern electric regulatory systemwill be proposed, including perfecting electric industrial regulation laws, scientificallyallocating regulation powers and authorities, ensuring the independence of electric regulatoryinstitutions, scientifically completing electricity regulation procedures, and planning theelectric power industrial development. The implementation of these measures will help todeepen China’s electric industrial regulatory reform, improve electric industrial performanceand accelerate the benign development of electric power industry.