Let There Be Light

THE express train of the Chinese economy can only keep going when its fuel tank is full. Like any part of the world, China depends heavily on electricity. In China’s case its power supply comes primarily from coal-burning power stations. With a tremendous trove of the flammable black rock, Shanxi Province in north China is traditionally the locomotive of the nation’s power industry.

During an inspection of the province in July 2005, President Hu Jintao commented: “As a major coal producer, Shanxi should take advantage of its rich resources to feed the nation’s energy demands. What’s more, it should build itself a base of new energies and industries.” Taking up this advice, in August 2006 the State Grid Corporation laid down the route for China’s first UHV (ultra-high voltage) network, extending from southeastern Shanxi down to Hubei Province via Henan. When completed, this “electricity expressway” is expected to dramatically escalate the transmission of power to southeastern China, sustaining economic growth in the booming southern coastal regions while channeling greater profits into Shanxi.

In 2007 sales of Shanxi Electric Power Co. electricity reached 100 billion KWH, making the province the nation’s seventh to cross the 100 billion KWH line. This represents the nation’s highest provincial growth in electricity production, far above the national 10 percent average. Taking power into remote areas is essential to stimulate regional economies. As power lines grow denser and snake into more and more isolated regions, many rural people are enjoying basic modern comforts such as electric light and television for the first time.

A Century-old

Undertaking

Shanxi’s power industry boomed in the early 20th century, but evolved tardily in the following decades. By the end of 1949 the industry’s capacity was a mere 40,800 KW, and its actual annual power output no more than 63 million KWH. In 1958 Shanxi set up the Power Industry Bureau to oversee the province’s electricity production. Shanxi Electric Power Co. replaced the bureau in 1989, becoming the provincial subordinate of the State Grid Corp.

Since then Shanxi Electric Power Co. has focused on construction and management of the province’s power network. In addition to supplying power for local living and production, Shanxi is a linchpin in the transmission of electricity from resource-opulent western China to the industrialized power-hungry eastern regions of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province. Answering the Chinese government’s call to build a moderately well off society and transform Shanxi into a modern energy base, Shanxi Electric Power Co. is working strenuously to upgrade the local grid, as well as increasing connections with regional and national networks.

In 2006 the company expanded its grid by building 775 kilometers of new power lines. In 2007 it kicked off a project to complete a 500 KV provincial grid covering all cities in the area and six 220 KV sub-grids. Over the course of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), the company plans to invest RMB 38.2 billion in the Shanxi power network.

A Mission of Conscience

In the autumn of 2006 Wang Shu-xiang, general manager of Shanxi Electric Power Co., received a letter from Niuniu, a 15-year-old girl in Yaoweigou Village in Qinxian County, Changzhi City. She wrote to Mr. Wang to express her gratitude for the recent arrival of power in her village: “I never saw an electric light in my early childhood. When I was seven, my father sent me to live with my uncle’s family far away, so I could do homework under electric light…” Now Yaoweigou receives the power supply those in the cities take for granted.

Niuniu’s feelings are shared by tens of thousands people in Shanxi’s hinterland. Her village was a stronghold of local forces during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, but has been the least developed spot in the province for decades. To remedy the situation in settlements like Yaoweigou, in 2006 the Shanxi Electric Power Co. launched a “power for every rural family” campaign, rolling out power lines across the Taihang Mountains. On May 24, 2006 Wang Shuxiang and the deputy mayor of Changzhi, Shang Xianfang, came to Yaoweigou Village for the inauguration of the power supply. The pair trekked across the mountainside with their team in pouring rain to reach the remote settlement.

After the “switching-on” ceremony, a grandma in her 80s approached Wang and handed him an oil lamp she had been using for 65 years. Other villagers played the tune Sending off the Red Army. They pressed boiled eggs into the hands of team members with the same affection they had once lavished on heroes fighting the Japanese invaders. The oil lamp Wang received is now on display in the company’s archive room. Wang fondly recalls “the mixture of rain and tears streaming down our faces at that moment.”

Throughout 2006, the episode in Yaoweigou Village was repeated across Shanxi’s mountainous regions holding the province’s last scattered communities without power. Although they represented only a tiny portion of the province’s population, their situation filled the employees of Shanxi Electric Power Co. with guilt. When Wang Shuxiang took over as general manager in September 2005, he made taking electricity to these un-powered areas a priority. Wang had started at the company as a grassroots clerk many decades earlier, and felt a strong sense of duty toward the organization and the people it serves. In June 2006 the company reached an agreement with the Shangxi government and the “power for every rural home” project kicked off.

No-one knew better than the company personnel how formidable their task was. The homes they needed to reach were all dispersed in mountain folds where natural conditions were harsh. Modern communication and transportation facilities were scarce. But for staff this was a mission of conscience.

A caucus headed by Wang Shuxiang was established, and they worked out meticulous design and construction plans. Leaders supervised construction sites. Engineering corps toiled under the scorching sun in the day and camped in the wild at night for months at a time. To solve the problem of inadequate funds, the company staff C both leaders and rank-and-file C donated more than RMB 1.3 million to the project.

In terrains geologically intricate the planting of each pole must be well calculated to ensure their safety. In many cases equipment and materials had to be carried on human backs, since Shanxi’s most remote areas are without roads. Despite the obstacles, the construction proceeded with amazing efficiency, and was concluded in five months.

At 11am on October 22, 2006, Xue Yanzhong, deputy secretary of the CPC Shangxi Provincial Committee, turned the switch in the cottage of 77-year-old farmer Yang Shengfan in Datan Village, Shanyin County. The TV set in the room immediately spluttered to life and began showing clear images. It was a history-making day in Shanxi: the last 64,443 farmers of 652 villages in 34 counties finally had power at home, allowing them to join the modern era.

Shanxi Electric Power Co. won the public’s heart with the “power for every rural home” project. It was elected a model government section in 2006 and named a Shanxi model company in 2007 .

Power Invigorates Life and the Economy

The Spring Festival of 2007 was merrier than usual for those in Datan Village. It was the first holiday since the power supply had reached the community. Villagers watched TV, logged on to the Internet and enjoyed entertainment on modern appliances. Colored lights lined the village roads and square, creating a splendor never before seen in the village.

Yang Shengfan’s house filled up as all his children and their families returned to the village. They even brought him an electric rice cooker. Yang beamed with delight, “In previous years my wife and I had to spend the festival at our children’s places out of the village, or made it through in our dimly-lit home. Now the power has come and so do my children! I couldn’t be happier!”

While electricity has made a huge difference to the everyday lives of farmers like Yang, more broadly it is vital for economic development. It is essential to draw investment and give rural residents a means to broaden their horizons. In Shanyin County, for instance, the extension of the power network has led to the establishment of 41 industrial and mining enterprises. Revenue has surged from RMB 250 million in 2005 to RMB 1.2 billion in 2007.

In Wutai County, Deputy Magistrate Sun Ziqing claims that a more extensive power supply has stimulated the growth of medium-sized and small enterprises, galvanizing the local economy and creating more jobs. Since 2000 the county has built five transformer stations with the assistance of the local power company, and five new enterprises have opened. Sun claims that without a well-developed power industry, attempts to urbanize the countryside, modernize agriculture and enrich farmers will come to nothing.

Chiniwa Village in Jingle, one of Shanxi’s most impoverished counties, is another settlement that has benefited from the efforts of the power company. The village is surrounded by barren mountains on three sides, and for centuries was cut off from the outside world by deep valleys and high ridges. After power facilities were updated in 2006, the supply was stabilized and for the first time became available 24 hours a day. The village opened a computer room, where farmers search the Internet for market information on local yields. As a result they now make twice as much on every kilogram of apricots. The village head summed up the benefits a steady power supply has brought: “Electricity not only brings us better lighting, but also higher incomes.”

Two weeks after completing the “power for every rural home” project, Shanxi Electric Power Co. embarked on another massive campaign to illuminate public spaces in local villages. In 2007 it invested RMB 76.81 million to erect street lamps along major roads in 1,707 villages. And the company didn’t stop there. During a 2007 field study in Hengshan Village, Jingle County, Wang Shuxiang discovered that residents had to walk three to four hours to fetch water. He approached local governments and offered to build infrastructure to power water supplies for remote communities. The move has benefited 40 counties in the province.

As light and warmth find their way into Shanxi’s last black corners, the flame of hope is kindled in once isolated and destitute villages. Electricity powers modern equipment for living and farming, but more importantly empowers villagers by connecting them to the outside world.