The Doing Business project was launched in 2002 by the World Bank to measure business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level.
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. There are 10 indicators the World Bank scores. Getting electricity is one, which affects the ease of doing business rankings.
In the DB 2020 report, China jumped to 31 from 46 last year. The indicator of “getting electricity” was ranked 12, the highest among 10 indicators of China measured by the bank, surpassing Switzerland, France and Iceland.
One year ago, China’s indicator of getting electricity was ranked 98.
The World Bank’s assessment of China’s business climate uses Shanghai and Beijing as sample cities, giving Shanghai a weighting of 55 percent and Beijing 45 percent.
As the power and energy steward of Shanghai, State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company has undoubtedly made a huge contribution.
Since 2018, State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company has begun to implement plans to optimize electricity supply in Shanghai, helping Shanghai government improve business climate.
The company followed international advanced concepts and practices, and implemented comprehensive reform centering on facilitate “getting electricity” for business player in Shanghai.
The more-than-one-year reform has paid off and the company now has explored some satisfactory cases.
Shanghai Experience
The State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company has rolled out its newest 3.0 reform measures, all of which are made in order to offer high quality electricity service.
For example, the company has developed its own app, allowing customers to apply for electricity online, instead of physically visiting offices.
On April 8, the Shanghai Yuantong Hotel Management Co Ltd applied for a new installation of 148 kilowatts through the app. The next day, it signed an electronic power supply contract online.
On April 19, the electricity meter installation and power supply were completed. Normally, to get approval of road occupation and excavation licenses takes four days.
After that, the customer only has to go through two steps, submit an application and sign an electronic contract and then “wait for the implementation of the electricity access project and install the meter to receive electricity.”
The total time, from getting approval from related departments to finally receiving electricity is only 11 days.
The project cost 535,361 yuan (US$76,526). However, for users, it is totally free, as the company is implementing “zero investment for customers,” one of the measures to improve electricity service. Moreover, the company introduced two innovative mechanisms for an on-site electricity access joint survey and instant approval for low-voltage electricity access applications.
Through joint surveys, the account manager collaborates with the design and construction personnel and customers to conduct site surveys. All parties can discuss detailed issues such as the power supply plan and customer needs, which not only improves the efficiency of making a power supply plan, but also avoids disturbing customers.
Instant approval for low-voltage electricity access applications helps largely reduce the time to getting electricity. In the past, application of low-voltage electricity access was submitted once every two weeks, causing customers to have to wait for the fixed day to getting electricity even if they were already eligible.
As for projects involving road occupation and excavation, which usually takes a long time to get approval, State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company actively cooperates with related departments such as planning resources, transportation, road administration, greening, and public security, to reduce the average length of administrative approval to within five days.
According to statistics, since the implementation of Shanghai’s reform to optimize the business environment for electricity, the average time of getting electricity for low-voltage customers is 3.5 days. The average time of projects involving road excavation was shortened to 11.19 days.
Better ‘getting electricity’ to come
On October 8, the Executive Meeting of the State Council passed the “Regulations on Optimizing the Business Climate (Draft),” providing official guarantees for various market entities to invest and doing businesses in China.
To respond to that, State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company carefully planned further reforms to optimize “getting electricity,” based on the actual situation in Shanghai. The company rolled out five specific measures. The key points are as follows:
Firstly, continuously improve electricity access efficiency and service levels. Fully promote digital measures such as the use of State Grid app and streamline the electricity access process, which only takes two steps for 10 kv users.
Enhance cooperation with the government to optimize the approval process. Cooperate with the government to gradually transform the administrative examination and approval of electricity related to small and micro enterprises to the filing system (issuing licenses for approved small and micro enterprises on the spot).
Secondly, deepen the integration of the two networks, namely grid and Internet, and build a world-class energy Internet of Things enterprise. Build ubiquitous electricity Internet of Things; provide customized energy solutions; build a strong smart grid, improve equipment level, automation level and operation level. By 2020, the reliability rate of power supply in the central urban area will reach 99.99 percent, and the power outage will not exceed five minutes.
Thirdly, innovate and pilot leasing package service for high- and low-voltage customers’ temporary electricity use. For non-permanent power use such as infrastructure construction sites, municipal construction, and farmland water conservancy, customers can rent high- and low-voltage electrical equipment such as transformers through a qualified electric energy service provider. By circular use of power supply equipment, both social resources and customer investment costs are largely reduced.
And fourthly, meet the World Bank’s evaluation standards, cooperate with government departments to introduce a new protection mechanism for power supply interruption in accordance with China’s national conditions, and cooperate with government departments to formulate relevant rules for administrative enforcement of power supply reliability indicators to effectively protect customer rights.
