The National Energy Administration (NEA) will delegate the approval and acceptance inspection to provincial-level governments, according to an official document released by the State Council.

The NEA will abolish the approval power for trans-regional power transmission and distribution tariffs, a step further in the reform toward market-oriented power tariff.

This will help lower costs and boost the utilization of cost-efficient power plants and reduce abandonment of hydro and wind power, industry insiders said.

During the first 10 months this year, trans-regional power transmission reached 235.4 TWh, up 15.9% year on year.

It meanwhile will cancel the approval right for the access and withdrawal of power generating units into commercial operation, and the safety evaluation of on-grid generating unit.

It will also cancel the approval power for the disbursement of special funds from the central government and the coalbed methane commercial volume distribution plan.

However, some officials concerned that total volume control may lose efficacy, as provincial governments may hide the true number of projects.

“If the corresponding policy is not in place, it may actually increase companies’ costs, as the new approval process is not yet clear”, said an insider from a major utility.