Notice issued by the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission on "Administrative Measures for Rural Power Grid Reconstruction and Upgrading Projects"

On November 10, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice on the issuance of the Measures for the Administration of Rural Power Grid Reconstruction and Upgrading Projects, which specified the scope of rural power grid transformation, the source of investment funds, and the implementation of investment plans. The Measures stipulate that the funds for the construction and upgrading of rural power grids shall be raised through multiple channels in accordance with the principle of “enterprise-based, government-supported”. Funding for projects in the central and western regions shall, in principle, be arranged by the state. The project capital in the eastern region shall be raised by the project legal person.

The "Measures" proposes that the transformation and upgrading of rural power grids refers to the construction of new rural power grid facilities such as substations and lines, as well as the construction, capacity expansion, and replacement of equipment for local or off-site operations of partially or completely operated rural power grid facilities.

The "Measures" also explicitly states that "reform investment for meter box and electric energy meter shall be included in the investment plan, and the line and facilities of the table shall be provided by farmers for qualified products or capital transformation." Analysts said that this means that the transformation of meter boxes and electric energy meters is expected to be promoted on a large scale when funds are secured, which will benefit the growth of sales of related listed companies, such as smart meter manufacturing company Ke Lu Electronics.

The "Measures" proposed that the planning for the transformation and upgrading of rural power grids in all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) will be organized by the Provincial Development and Reform Commission and submitted to the National Development and Reform Commission for approval. The provincial planning will serve as the basis for the declaration of investment plans and project arrangements, including the forecast of rural electricity market demand, the goals and tasks of rural power grid upgrading and upgrading, the scale of investment, the source of funds, and the measurement of electricity prices.