"There is only 20 yuan left in the prepayment, why is there no money so quickly?" Recently, many households have been taken aback when they see their gas bills. They found that gas bills were significantly higher this year compared to previous years. Behind this is the result of the country's official launch of the linkage price adjustment mechanism for natural gas residents.
Loading...
Recently, China's National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice to the whole country, requiring all regions to complete a natural gas price adjustment by June, and establish a sound linkage mechanism between residential gas prices and industrial and commercial gas prices by the end of September. This means that the terminal sales price of natural gas nationwide will truly realize the synchronous adjustment of upstream and downstream costs, and put forward a systematic solution to the long-standing problems of the industry.
Although the adjustment of natural gas prices may bring short-term pressure to some groups, from a macro perspective, this adjustment is of great significance to ensure the energy supply of people's livelihood and promote the development of the industry. We will analyze the reasons behind this price adjustment and its long-term impact, and deeply understand the policy connotation of this major national initiative.
Alleviate supply pressures caused by past price misalignments
As an important energy source, the long-term price imbalance of natural gas has seriously affected the supply. Over the years, domestic natural gas purchase prices have been greatly affected by fluctuations in international oil prices. However, in order to meet the needs of people's livelihood, it is difficult for downstream enterprises to adjust terminal prices in a timely manner according to upstream cost changes. This has led to a long-term disconnect between upstream, midstream and downstream prices. Midstream and upstream companies face long-term losses; Downstream companies have to make up for their losses by charging excess fees to industrial and commercial users.
This price imbalance has long eroded the sustainability of the natural gas industry. Now the state implements the linkage mechanism to adjust prices, which will break the previous "decoupling" state. Ensure that upstream and downstream prices can respond to each other's cost changes in a timely manner, and re-establish a healthy price system. This will not only enable all links of the natural gas supply chain to continue to operate, but also better ensure the long-term stable supply of energy for people's livelihood.
Promote industry restructuring and optimal allocation of resources
Price imbalance also affects the optimal allocation of resources within the industry. Due to the failure of downstream lagging price adjustments to reflect costs, many companies are doomed to lose money and find it difficult to survive. Upstream companies are also struggling to make full use of their capacity due to oversupply. This linkage reform may "remove obstacles and delegate power", so that the market mechanism can better play its due role.
With the adjusted fair price signal, resources will flow to the areas where they are being used most efficiently. Regional natural gas supply will also be more optimized and reasonable. In the context of energy transition, it is a critical period for industry restructuring. Only by truly establishing a fair and competitive market environment can enterprises distinguish their strategic layout according to their own advantages and promote the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure. This is also the need to achieve the goals of "carbon neutrality" and "double carbon".
Fully consider the affordability of different users
Adjusting gas prices will naturally increase the burden on certain users. However, the state also takes into account the affordability of different groups of people when implementing the adjustments. For example, for low-income groups and rural "coal-to-gas" households, partial subsidies will be given to reduce the burden. At the same time, the adjustment range in most areas is controlled within the range of 5%-15%, and the impact on the lives of most families is controllable.
In addition, all localities will also take into account users from different income strata and adopt a tiered price mechanism to optimize the design. High-consumption users should be properly controlled, and low- and middle-income users should be given certain care to make the cost burden more fair and reasonable. Prices did rise in the short term, but through the state's scientific arrangements, the increase in the burden was alleviated to the maximum. This also reflects the government's position of focusing on the interests of the people.
Promote industrial upgrading and technological progress
The market-oriented reform of natural gas prices not only corrects the problems left over from history, but also has a far-reaching impact on the development of the industry. The price adjustment will stimulate the motivation of enterprises to cope with the reform and promote the transformation of their marketing models. It is possible to expand the application of natural gas to more fields, and at the same time develop energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies to reduce costs.
With the growth of market demand, it will also promote the vigorous development of related industries such as pipeline networks and storage and transportation equipment. It may even stimulate the potential for commercial applications of emerging technologies such as LNG and hydrogen. This will guide the natural gas-dominated clean energy industrial system to form a new growth point, and help the mainland achieve the "dual carbon" goal and the in-depth development of the energy revolution.
At the same time, it will also open up new opportunities for domestic industries to go global. With the standardization of the price system, a more stable relationship of mutual trust will be established between enterprises and users. This will help promote the sustainable and healthy development of the mainland natural gas market. It is wise and necessary for the state to propose the implementation of the adjustment of the natural gas price linkage mechanism.
It not only solves the problems left over from history and realizes the rationalization of resource allocation, but also helps to promote the long-term development and upgrading of the industry. It is believed that through continuous improvement, this measure will benefit more people and lead the natural gas industry to new goals and hopes.