By Zhou Hongchun, DRC

2016-12-02

The principle of heating metering is that those who consume heating should pay the fees and those who consume more heating should pay more and the purpose is to improve energy utilization efficiency. First, the reform of heating metering is constrained by hot-attribution and development stage. Due to the conductivity of heat, the structure and age of buildings and other factors, the progress of heating metering reform is quite slow, which adds difficulties to the fairness of collecting fees by metering. Problems such as ways for heating metering and the collection of heating fees remain to be addressed. Besides, the number of households who have not paid heating fees according to metering devices is high. Second, the implementation of household heating metering system is unsatisfactory. Hardware facilities such as metering devices cannot meet the needs of household heating metering; competent authorities of various levels have not received the assignments relating to fees collection according to heating consumption amount; residents do not respond positively to the effectiveness of the present charge system of heating metering. As a result, a number of heating metering devices are left unused, investment gets no returns, and the potential of energy-saving and emission reduction cannot be given full play. Third, some policy options for pushing forward the reform of heating metering are given as follows. 1. Effectiveness of heating metering reform should be accurately evaluated. Although residents may be urged to save energy by heating metering, metering itself does not produce any energy-saving effect. 2. Household heating metering charge policies should be tailored to local conditions and amendments should be made toward controversial regulations. 3. Policy measures including taxation, loan, fund and credibility should be improved. 4. The leading role of government should be given full play. 5. Energy-saving awareness of residents should be enhanced.

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