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China Policymaker: Avg Elec Price To Rise CNY0.0252 May 1


DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
April 30, 2005 5:55 a.m.

SHANGHAI -- Starting Sunday, the price of electricity nationwide will be raised by an average CNY0.0252 a kilowatt-hour, as part of the government's new pricing mechanism linking coal costs to electricity prices, the industry policymaker said Saturday.

Linking the price of coal and electricity doesn't mean electricity generators will be passing along their full cost to their customers, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement.

The government is requiring generating enterprises to digest 30% of the costs, with the aim for them to strengthen their management and cut costs, the commission said.

It said as part of efforts to prevent a cycle of price rises in coal and electricity, coal producers are required not to raise coal prices because of the adjustment in electricity prices, the commission said, adding it would be monitoring local coal pricing.

-By J.R. Wu, Dow Jones Newswires; (86-21) 6120-1200; [e-mail]

(Zheng Xiaolu contributed to this article.)