SIX of South China’s wealthiest cities were charging industrial users a temporary surcharge on electricity prices to compensate gas and oil burning power stations for soaring fuel costs, industry sources said yesterday.

The extra 0.045 yuan per kilowatt hour, officially called a “gas and fuel oil processing fee,” came into effect March 1 in parts of Guangdong, a local government official and a trader said.

The money collected could help tide the booming area over peak-time summer power shortfalls that the local government warns could be as high as 15 gigawatts by providing cash to plants that can be easily fired up but have high fuel bills.

Some funds would be used by Guangdong Dapeng Liquefied Natural Gas Co. to run gas-fired power plants that can boost production when demand surges, the Information Times quoted Li Xiangming, deputy chief of Guangdong Economic and Trade Commission, as saying.

But the extra cash would only cover one-third of losses at gas-fired generators, Li said.

Officially a temporary measure, there is no expiry date on the notice that established the surcharge, suggesting the government wants flexibility to subsidize its power firms over the summer when air conditioning stretches the grid.

Guangdong also decided to extend past March a form of provisional subsidies for small oil-fired power stations — even though it also aims to phase them out as part of an efficiency drive — by allowing them to charge higher on-grid prices, a statement posted on the provincial government Web site said. (SD-Agencies)