The National Energy Administration reported: Seven violations in the power grid!

On December 5, the National Energy Administration issued the "Notice on Seven Cases of Violations Related to Fair and Open Access to the Power Grid" (the full text is attached). Seven provincial power grid companies were publicly criticized nationwide! The seven typical issues highlighted in this notice primarily involve the power grid leveraging its natural monopoly position to increase connection costs for new energy enterprises, complicate connection procedures, and delay the repurchase of grid-connected projects. Zhihui Photovoltaic has summarized these issues in the table below.

Table: Seven Cases of Violations Related to Fair and Open Access to the Power Grid

Previously, on March 25, the National Energy Administration conducted a special regulatory inspection on grid enterprises in 19 provinces, focusing on the fair and open access of power grids. The regulatory focus was on:

1) Investment, construction, and repurchase of grid connection projects; 2) Implementation status of procedures and timeframes for various entities connecting to the power grid; 3) Implementation status of procedures and timeframes for grid interconnections; 4) Establishment and implementation of relevant work systems by grid enterprises; 5) Information disclosure and reporting. This notification should reflect the results of the special supervision.

Notification from the National Energy Administration on Seven Cases of Violations Related to Fair and Open Access to the Power Grid

To implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and in accordance with the requirements of the Energy Law of the People’s Republic of China that operators of energy transmission pipeline facilities shall provide energy transmission services in a fair and non-discriminatory manner, the National Energy Administration has organized regulatory oversight on the fair and open access to power grids in several provinces. This oversight has uncovered a number of violations of regulations governing fair and open grid access. To further enhance the level of fair and open grid services and fully leverage the educational and cautionary effects of these typical cases, we are now releasing information on seven representative cases.

1. Entrusting the grid connection engineering for distributed photovoltaic projects to the project owner for self-investment and construction increases the investment costs of distributed photovoltaic projects. Since 2021, a power grid enterprise in Shanxi Province has entrusted the grid connection projects for 540 distributed photovoltaic (PV) projects of 10 kV and above to the investors of these PV projects for investment and construction. This accounted for 71.6% of all distributed PV grid connection projects during the same period, involving approximately 230 million yuan in funds. Such actions violate relevant regulations including the "Interim Measures for the Management of Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation Projects" (Guoneng Xineng [2013] No. 433) and the "Administrative Measures for the Development and Construction of Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation" (Guoneng Fa Xineng Gui [2025] No. 7).

Second, shifting the costs of substation bays, primary and secondary equipment, and other related expenses—costs that should be borne by the entity itself—to new energy generation enterprises, thereby harming the interests of these new energy generation enterprises. Since September 2021, a power grid enterprise in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has shifted the responsibility for constructing substation bays on the grid side—originally slated for investment and construction by the enterprise itself—to new energy generation enterprises in 97 new-energy grid connection projects, involving funds exceeding 150 million yuan. Such actions violate relevant regulations, including the “Regulations on Supervision of Full-Volume Guaranteed Purchase of Renewable Energy Electricity” (Order No. 15 of the National Development and Reform Commission) and the “Notice of the National Energy Administration on Reducing the Burden on Enterprises in the Renewable Energy Sector” (Guo Neng Fa Xin Neng [2018] No. 34).

3. Illegally collecting unreasonable fees, such as communication channel maintenance fees and substation access bay maintenance fees, to reap unjustified profits. From 2023 to 2024, a power grid enterprise and its affiliated companies in Jiangxi Province charged power generation enterprises fees for the maintenance of communication channels and for the operation and maintenance of switchgear equipment at grid-side substations, involving funds exceeding 130 million yuan. These actions violated relevant regulations, including the "Regulations on Electricity Supervision" (Decree No. 432 of the State Council) and the "Measures for the Fair and Open Supervision of Power Grids" (Guoneng Fa Jian Gu [2021] No. 49).

4. The repurchase of some grid-connected projects has been delayed, increasing the burden on new energy power generation enterprises. Since September 2021, a power grid enterprise in Jiangsu Province has been in negotiations with new-energy power generation enterprises to repurchase 48 grid connection projects constructed by these new-energy enterprises. However, the specific implementation of this repurchase has been slow, and as of now, the repurchase has not yet been completed, involving funds totaling approximately 700 million yuan. Such actions are inconsistent with the spirit of relevant documents, including the “Notice from the General Office of the State Council Forwarding the Implementation Plan of the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration on Promoting High-Quality Development of New Energy in the New Era” (Guobanhan [2022] No. 39) and the “Notice from the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Comprehensive Department of the National Energy Administration on Matters Relating to the Investment and Construction of Supporting Transmission Projects for New Energy” (Fagai Ban Yunxing [2021] No. 445).

V. The processing of certain power source grid connection and grid interconnection procedures has exceeded the prescribed time limits, thereby affecting the efficiency of grid integration. Since September 2021, among the centralized new-energy projects connected to the grid that have been accepted by a power grid enterprise in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 119 applications for grid connection intention letters were submitted beyond the prescribed time limit, with an average delay of 9 days. Additionally, for six 110kV grid interconnection projects accepted by a power grid enterprise in Shaanxi Province, the written responses regarding system integration design plans exceeded the prescribed time limit, with an average delay of 45 days. These actions violate relevant provisions such as the "Regulations on Electricity Supervision" (Decree No. 432 of the State Council) and the "Measures for the Regulation of Fair and Open Access to Power Grids" (Guoneng Fa Jian Gu [2021] No. 49).

6. During the provision of grid connection services, illegally imposing additional prerequisites, thereby increasing the difficulty for power generation enterprises to connect to the grid. When approving the grid connection system design plans, a power grid enterprise in Hunan Province additionally required power generation enterprises to submit non-essential documents such as energy storage configuration agreements and consumption analysis reports for review, and the relevant technical requirements exceeded national and industry standards. These actions violate the "Regulations on Power Supervision" (Decree No. 432 of the State Council) and the "Measures for Fair and Open Grid Regulation" (Guoneng Fa Jian Gu [2021] No. 49), among other relevant provisions.

7. The acceptance process for distributed photovoltaic projects is chaotic, and “off-book circulation” is used to circumvent time-limit assessment requirements. Since January 2022, the marketing system of a power grid enterprise in Guizhou Province has shown that more than 13,000 distributed photovoltaic projects completed the entire process—including application acceptance, on-site inspection, connection response, and grid-connection acceptance—within just two days. This timeline significantly deviates from the actual processing time. Upon verification, it was found that the enterprise had retroactively entered the system procedures after the grid-connection acceptance of distributed photovoltaic projects in order to circumvent the time-limit assessment requirements. Such behavior violates relevant regulations, including the "Regulations on Electricity Supervision" (Decree No. 432 of the State Council) and the "Measures for the Regulation of Fair and Open Access to Power Grids" (Guo Neng Fa Jian Gu [2021] No. 49).

The seven typical issues mentioned above, which violate the regulations on fair and open grid operations, highlight that some grid enterprises still have significant shortcomings in implementing regulatory requirements for naturally monopolized segments of the energy industry and in promoting the orderly advancement of grid fairness and openness. All grid enterprises must deeply learn from the lessons drawn from these reported typical cases, draw broader conclusions from specific examples, and take them as cautionary tales. They must earnestly raise their political awareness and resolutely implement the Party Central Committee and the State Council’s directives on strengthening regulation of naturally monopolized segments. They should fully recognize the crucial significance of fair and open grid operations in driving high-quality energy development and facilitating a green and low-carbon energy transition. Grid enterprises must continuously standardize their fair and open grid practices and continually enhance the quality of their fair and open service delivery.

National Energy Administration

November 28, 2025