As extreme cold blankets China, authorities are struggling with an energy shortage, and electricity bills are skyrocketing. Netizens are complaining about insufficient indoor heating and excessive energy bills.
This winter’s record-breaking frigid temperatures have brought snow even to China’s subtropical southern provinces. Heating shortage problems are plaguing the populous northern cities, and northwest provinces—areas like Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang.
Reuters reported on Dec. 24 that Beijing had broken a seven-decade cold weather record.
On Dec. 24, an anonymous netizen posted a message on social media calling attention to the suffering caused by heating issues in northern China after a recent snowfall.
The netizen, without specifying their location, said that temperatures had dropped to minus 15 degrees Celsius, but “the indoor temperature of many residents’ homes is around 10 to 15 degrees.”
“Elderly people and children wear thick cotton coats [at home] and still catch cold and fall sick,“ the post said, adding that residents have complained to authorities without response. “The government service hotline 12345 is just a show. The so-called customer service promoted by the heating company is useless.”
Another netizen, from Tianjin, a major city in northern China, complained on Dec. 23 that during the first few days of the cold wave, their indoor temperature was 14 degrees.
China has experienced notable power shortages in recent years. In the summer, air conditioning use is at a minimum, and factories stagger operating schedules due to energy grid problems. “It’s not uncommon for residential neighborhoods to encounter blackouts during both hot summers and cold winters,” Liu Xin (a pseudonym), a resident of Hefei, in eastern China’s Anhui province, told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times.
Inaccurate Chinese Smart Meters
In recent years, many residential areas in China have replaced traditional meters with smart meters. After replacing their meters, many residents complained that they paid more for electricity even though they had not changed their electricity consumption.Mr. Liu said, “Since I switched to a new meter, my electricity bill has increased several times.”
Public speculation over electricity meters being rigged has persisted for decades despite repeated denials from state media.
In early 2018, an article on Chinese blogging app Jianshu claimed that “75 percent of China’s meters are deliberately accelerated, with the largest deviation being 28 percent faster.” The article alleged that the meters are accelerated because “some power companies privately request producers to speed up the readings in meters.”
The article, which was reprinted by Chinese state media People’s Daily Online, made Chinese smart meters a hot topic that year.
Billions in Hidden Energy Charges
On Dec. 22, an article on Chinese news portal NetEase asked: “Is it a secret that the meter turns fast?” The article cited an example in which a netizen was charged for the 135 electrical degrees that his meter displayed, although the actual consumption in the home was 100 degrees.Accordingly, the article estimated that if China’s state-owned electric utility had purchased 10 billion kWh of electricity, it would sell 13.5 billion kWh, charging for more electricity than consumers actually used.
Notably, official figures concluded that China’s electricity reported as used exceeded the amount that was actually generated by 294.6 billion kilowatt-hours. If calculated at .5 yuan (about $.07) a unit, the disparity would amount to about 147.3 billion yuan ($20.6 billion), a whopping overcharge on Chinese power bills.
The NetEase article concluded that the only explanation for this illogical phenomenon is that the meters of many Chinese—including industrial users—are faulty. The resultant massive overcharge amounts to a hidden energy tariff, burdening already struggling Chinese taxpayers with billions in additional taxes.
