Economic Daily: Streamlining Public Utility Prices

The article states that in the future, it is necessary to accelerate the rationalization of public utility prices and moderately concentrate some of the management authority over public utility prices. Through precise classification, tiered pricing, differentiated pricing, and other methods, it is possible to lighten the economic burden on low-income groups, better guarantee basic service supply, reduce the usage costs of large-scale enterprise users, and avoid the efficiency losses brought about by one-size-fits-all policies. Further improvements to the dynamic adjustment mechanism of public utility prices are needed to enhance the protection function and public service capability of public utilities. It is also necessary to promote the realization of "one city, one enterprise" for some public utilities, solving problems such as excessive decentralization of franchise rights leading to inefficiencies in resource allocation and difficulties in pricing.