Currently, the gas meter “speeding up” incidents in Chongqing, Sichuan, and other places continue to ferment. Many people are focusing on the gas meter in response to this issue, but some professionals believe the problem lies in the gas itself. On Friday (April 19), authorities released the investigation results in an attempt to calm the public and try to downplay the issue. However, media investigations have revealed that the local gas companies involved are associated with two central state-owned enterprises of the Chinese Communist Party.
In recent times, many residents in various districts and counties in Chongqing have reported that after replacing smart gas meters, the gas bills have doubled under similar usage frequency conditions. Some residents questioned that the gas meter is “running fast” and accused the gas company of tampering with it.
On April 12, Chongqing official media published a clarification notice released by Chongqing Gas Company stating that “the newly replaced gas meters have all been certified by legal metrology inspection institutions as qualified” and no measurement deviation issues were found in the reviewed gas meters.
However, as the gas issue affects people’s livelihoods, this incident continues to escalate with the “overcharging of gas bills” quickly becoming a trending topic.
Under intense public scrutiny, the Chongqing municipal government announced the formation of a joint investigation team and stationed at Chongqing Gas Group, Kaiyuan Gas, and other related gas enterprises to investigate the “gas meter running fast” incident. Soon after, Chongqing residents discovered that the gas meters had “slowed down.”
According to the official report, the authorities seem to be trying to downplay the issue. In addition to dismissing Chongqing Gas Group’s Party Secretary Che Dechen from his position, the report also mentioned problems such as “incorrect meter reading and improper estimation” in Chongqing Gas Group and other gas companies, but denied the public’s doubts regarding gas meter measurement and quality, gas quality, and changing gas meter measurements through remote control.
Just before the Chongqing municipal government established the investigation team, local residents reported that the flames from natural gas combustion were red and yellow, with some speculating that this was due to the addition of a large amount of inert gas, resulting in impure gas and low combustion efficiency. Using the same amount of gas to boil water, the gas usage would double.
On April 17, renowned screenwriter Li Yaling successively posted questioning the abnormality of the gas meter at her home in Chengdu.
Li Yaling wrote on social media that she felt something was amiss with the gas meter at her home in Chengdu. From January 13 to March 9, she accompanied her mother to spend the winter in Hainan, being away from Chengdu for almost two months. However, during that time, there was a consumption of over 500 cubic meters of gas at her Chengdu home, resulting in a gas bill of nearly a thousand yuan. She also mentioned that after raising the issue in the homeowners’ group, many homeowners similarly discovered similar problems.
In her post, Li Yaling also mentioned that she contacted the gas company, and after on-site testing by staff, no gas leakage was found, and they couldn’t explain the abnormal situation. Consequently, they dismantled the gas meter on the spot. She also planned to collaborate with two other neighbors to have a third-party institution test the gas meters of the three households.
After the article was released, it quickly gained attention and trended online, with a large number of netizens expressing their interest in following the updates.
On April 18, Da Wan News contacted Li Yaling, who mentioned that the gas meter had not been sent for inspection yet and they were still looking for a suitable institution. When asked if any relevant departments had conducted an on-site investigation following her post about the issue, she replied that there had been none, and she had been in contact with the gas company. Li Yaling stated that if there are any further developments, she will announce them online.
A resident in Tianfu New Area of Chengdu reported that after spending three months in the United States, upon returning home, they found that their gas bill amounted to over two thousand yuan. Another neighbor compared the payment receipts from last March-April and this year and found that this year’s gas bill had increased by 50% under the same gas usage conditions.
Similarly, Ms. Fan, residing in Longquanyi District, also faced a significant increase in gas bills. She stated that their family worked outside and rarely stayed at their house in Chengdu’s Longquanyi District International New City, with elderly relatives coming from Xinjiang to Chengdu for the winter. However, during the winter of 2022, their gas bill soared to 15,000 yuan, almost three to four times the amount for the same period in previous years. She mentioned that with the same gas consumption pattern and duration, the cost was usually three to four thousand yuan, at most around five thousand yuan.
Furthermore, Mr. Tang from Intercaken Community in Shuangliu District of Chengdu, also faced a sudden increase in gas fees. His payment records showed that his monthly gas fees were usually around twenty to thirty yuan, increasing to seventy to eighty yuan during winter, but suddenly rising to 514.48 yuan in January. He claimed that several users in his community had similar experiences.
Ms. Ju from Chang’an Shengjing Community in Wenjiang District reported that after their gas meter was replaced in the second half of 2022, there was a noticeable increase in gas bills. She requested the original gas meter to be reinstalled, but the gas company refused. She mentioned that many neighbors faced similar situations, particularly in 2023, with many people seeking explanations from Chengdu Wenjiang Natural Gas Co., Ltd. nearly every day.
According to Jiemian News, gas services in each district of Chengdu are usually operated by a gas company, and the names of gas companies vary in different administrative regions. Among them, several companies, including Longquanyi Gas Company and Wenjiang Gas Company, are controlled by Sichuan Huayou Gas Co., Ltd.
Recently, homeowners in Poly Galaxy Language Phase II in Chengdu have reported arrears of up to 17,290 yuan within 20 days after replacing the gas meter. Many homeowners in this community have experienced a dramatic increase in gas bills after changing the gas meter.
In a notice concerning the gas refurbishment of Poly Galaxy Language Phase II, it mentioned: “Some gas equipment in your community households has exceeded the service life. Now, Sichuan Ande Petroleum Natural Gas Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. will replace the gas equipment locally, and change the household gas stove front valve to a self-closing valve. Sichuan Lianfa Natural Gas Co., Ltd. will provide guidance and corresponding gas supply services.” The notice was dated March 19, 2024.
According to Tianyancha, shareholders of Sichuan Lianfa Natural Gas Co., Ltd. include Sichuan Chuangang Gas Co., Ltd. and Chengdu Gas Group Co., Ltd. Public information indicates that Chengdu Gas is the largest urban gas operating enterprise in the Chengdu region.
According to Qichacha, shareholders behind Chengdu Gas Group Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Gas Group Co., Ltd. include Huarun Gas Holdings Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Huarun Gas”). Huarun Gas is an enterprise under the central state-owned enterprise Huarun Group and is one of China’s largest urban gas operators.
Affected by the public opinion turmoil, Huatiangu’s stock price has continuously declined since April 12.
It’s worth noting that before the Chongqing gas meter incident erupted, Chongqing Gas released an earnings announcement on March 4, 2023, indicating that the company had achieved total operating income exceeding ten billion yuan for the first time in 2023, a year-on-year growth of 17.26%; and achieved a net profit of 493 million yuan, a 22.79% increase year-on-year.
According to Changjiang Business News, in the first three quarters of 2023, due to the temporary decline in gas sales gross profit caused by the rise in gas procurement costs, Chongqing Gas was in a situation of increasing revenue but not increasing profits.
The sudden surge in profits of Chongqing Gas has led local residents to question its connection with the gas meter “speeding up” incident.
In the gas meter “speeding up” incidents in the Sichuan and Chongqing regions, besides involving enterprises under Huarun Group, there is also the shadow of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec).
Reported by Caijing, in the areas where residents have complained, there are local large gas supply companies such as Chongqing Gas, Deyang Gas, and Chengdu Gas. Chengdu Gas primarily relies on its affiliate, Chengdu Qianjia Technology Co., Ltd (referred to as “Qianjia Technology”) for gas meter production, sales, installation, meter reading, and safety inspection.
In its 2019 prospectus, Chengdu Gas disclosed that it held a 52% ownership of Qianjia Technology. Qianjia Technology sells gas meters and provides software design and development services to Chengdu Gas and its joint venture companies and partners in Sichuan Huayou Group Co., Ltd., with a relatively high market share.
In April 2020, China Petrochemical Corporation increased its investment in Qianjia Technology, expanding its shareholding to 20%, while Chengdu Gas’ share ratio decreased to 41.59%. Qianjia Technology subsequently became a joint venture company of Chengdu Gas. Despite the decrease in shareholding, the transactions between the two entities remained close.
Editor: Ye Ziming#