How gas-for-coal program is carried out makes a difference

The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, has stepped in to coordinate the major natural gas suppliers to stabilize prices and ensure an adequate supply to cope with rising demand in northern China.

That the supply of gas has been insufficient to meet the demand has resulted in many residents in North China's Hebei province not having the heating they need, which indicates local policymakers were too hasty in implementing their gas-for-coal energy policy.

With the provincial development and reform commission issuing an orange alert for the short supply of natural gas, emergency measures were adopted to strictly restrict its supply to enterprises in order to guarantee that there has been enough for household heating.