The seemingly small water, electricity, and gas meters represent a significant test of a city's governance precision and its commitment to people's livelihood. Beginning in 2025, the Yueyang Municipal Market Regulation Bureau has focused on prominent issues such as inaccurate metering and non-compliant fee collection for residential meters. By prioritizing high-level coordination and systematic policy implementation, the bureau has worked to consolidate the regulatory responsibilities of counties, cities, and districts, alongside the primary responsibilities of enterprises.
This initiative has fostered a collaborative working mechanism across departments and a multi-stakeholder governance structure. Over the past year, the operation of 4.685 million meters in Yueyang has been effectively standardized, leading to the return of over 985,000 yuan in overcharged fees, benefiting more than 50,000 residents. In 2025, complaints and reports related to these meters decreased by 22.17% year-on-year. The objective of "accurate measurement, transparent billing, and excellent service" is steadily turning from a vision into reality.
Dismantling Barriers: From Fragmented Management to a Unified Force
Meter governance involves multiple authorities, including market regulation, development and reform, housing and urban-rural development, and urban management. Previously, these entities often worked in isolation, making it difficult for any single department to resolve underlying issues thoroughly. Yueyang's strategy to overcome this was to initiate change from top-level design, elevating the initiative from a departmental action to a governmental priority. In 2025, the "Yueyang City Comprehensive Rectification Plan for Metering and Charging Issues in Resident Water, Electricity, and Gas within the Market Regulation Sector" was launched, outlining 20 specific tasks, clarifying responsibilities, and establishing a working structure that emphasizes leadership.
The plan is driven by the direct involvement of the Yueyang Municipal Government. The deputy mayor in charge has convened multiple special coordination meetings, which were attended by all relevant departments and companies. These companies reported on their progress, with problem lists being assigned on the spot and deadlines set for corrections. The Market Regulation Bureau has also established a bi-weekly liaison mechanism with companies for dynamic tracking and closed-loop management. In 2025, 75 identified issues were resolved, and 19 new issues from 2026 are being addressed on schedule. The related institutions have upgraded their testing capabilities by utilizing automated calibration devices for gas and water meters. Calibration data is generated automatically and uploaded in real-time, ensuring traceability and objectivity of inspection results. Each qualified meter now features a one-time seal, guaranteeing that any tampering is immediately detectable.
Establishing Rules: Ensuring Every Meter is Scrutinized in the Open
"Does an intelligent meter spin faster than a mechanical one because it's been tampered with?" This was a common concern among residents. In response, the Yueyang Market Regulation Bureau empowered the public with direct oversight. The bureau launched its "Sunshine Market Regulation" brand, inviting people's congress representatives, political advisory committee members, industry associations, and consumer representatives to participate in meter supervision and sampling. In 2025, the city inspected a significant number of water, electricity, and gas meters, with qualification rates reaching 99.5%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. Some samples were sent to the Hunan Provincial Institute of Metrology and third-party legal metrology institutions in other provinces to provide factual evidence addressing public doubts.
The bureau noted that mechanical meters can slow down over time due to wear and tear, leading to under-registration. In contrast, intelligent meters measure consumption accurately, creating the misconception that they "run fast." To address this, the department conducted promotional and educational campaigns within communities, involving the public in on-site meter inspections, sealing, and immediate testing. This participatory approach helps residents understand the truth behind smart meter functionality and boosts public satisfaction.
Reinforcing Responsibility: Accelerating Corporate Accountability
The impact of regulation ultimately translates into corporate action. State Grid Yueyang Power Supply Company established a "five-level quality assurance system" for electricity meters, which includes pre-supply performance tests, manufacturer tests, post-arrival sampling tests, full-inspection acceptance, and qualified-in-stock re-testing. This ensures defect-free inventory, with first-inspection and in-stock sampling qualification rates maintained at 100%. The company has also established a monitoring system for abnormal meters to achieve rapid and precise resolution.
Enterprises have also heightened their sense of responsibility. Yueyang China Resources Gas Co., Ltd. has divided the urban area into 40 grids, each staffed with a dedicated maintenance worker, aiming for a response time of 5 minutes and a service arrival time of 10 minutes. The timely processing rate for replacing overdue gas meters has risen to 93.75%, and the time for connecting new gas services has been cut from 15 working days to just 2.85 days. The company’s general manager emphasized a shift from task-based to attentive, personalized service, ensuring support is aligned with user needs.
Since 2025, Yueyang has completed the rotation of 216,000 meters, inspected 242 companies, filed 31 cases, and collected fines of over 1.13 million yuan. This rigorous enforcement has served as a strong deterrent. Through these efforts, the market regulation authority has evolved from closed-door verification to open supervision and from passive response to proactive governance. For residents, the principles of accurate measurement, transparent billing, and quality service are becoming tangible realities in their daily water, electricity, and gas usage.