China Wants Time-of-Use Pricing by 2015, One Meter per Home by 2017
China Wants Time-of-Use Pricing by 2015, One Meter per Home by 2017
Big plans from central government, but how will they translate into action?
Jeff St. John
January 14, 2014
China, the worlds biggest potential smart meter market, has just set some ambitious goals for pushing smart pricing and energy awareness to the masses. Now, the question is how these lofty goals will be put into effect by the regional governments responsible to fulfill them.
In a little-noticed December announcement, a key Chinese central government agency has asked the countrys regions to implement a One Meter Per Household standard over the course of the next three years. As translated by GTM Research's Charlene Fowler, the announcement calls for 95 percent of meters shared by more than one household to be replaced, and for all meters to be monitored individually in each household, by the end of 2017.
While the statement from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) doesn't specify just how smart these meters need to be, it does stress that theyre meant to allow all regional authorities to implement a step pricing system, also known as Peak-Valley Pricing, by 2015. Thats the NDRCs term for time-of-use pricing, and it's meant to encourage people to move the peak to fill the valley in daily energy use -- that is, to reduce peak energy demand to better match it to baseload resources -- while keeping overall residential energy prices at a relatively steady level.
This kind of time-of-use pricing has been applied to roughly two-thirds of Chinas industrial and commercial electricity users over the past two years, according to research firm Azure International. Thats one of the highest levels of adoption in the world. And, unlike the vast majority of TOU programs in other countries, Chinas province-wide programs are mandatory, not voluntary, according to Anders Hove, Azures cleantech advisory manager.
That doesnt mean, however, that last months NDRC directive will flow seamlessly into a nationwide, full-scale smart meter deployment...
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