China's energy regulator just defined how every province must plan power infrastructure

China's National Development and Reform Commission issued binding rules for how provinces must plan, approve, and manage energy projects. This is the first time the central government has codified a single methodology for energy planning across all regions, replacing ad-hoc provincial approaches with a standardized process.

For decades, Chinese provinces planned energy infrastructure using different criteria, timelines, and approval processes — which meant the same project could be fast-tracked in one province and blocked in another. This directive locks in a single planning methodology across all 31 provinces and regions, which means energy companies can no longer shop for favorable local conditions. It also gives the central government a measurement standard to enforce compliance, which it couldn't do before when every province had its own rules. The real effect: energy infrastructure decisions now flow through a single decision tree instead of 31 different ones.