State Grid brings permanent power to Shaanxi communities

In late January, the Hangtian Xingyuan residential community in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, was connected to State Grid's permanent power supply.

The milestone was achieved through a campaign launched in June 2025 by State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power to resolve a long-standing issue: residential compounds relying on temporary construction power in lieu of formal grid supply.

These communities were left in limbo because developers failed to build permanent power distribution facilities. Residents therefore drew electricity from temporary lines originally laid for construction work.

Hangtian Xingyuan stood out as one of the most challenging cases under the campaign. Following handover in 2019, its developer went bankrupt after its financing broke down, leaving the project unable to secure a permanent grid connection.

For years, residents relied solely on temporary construction power supported by just one 800-kilovolt-ampere transformer.

The upgrade project began on Sept 25, 2025. Crews from the Chang'an district power supply branch of State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power in Xi'an worked 14 hours daily. Within 60 days, they installed a new 1,600-kVA transformer, laid more than 700 meters of low-voltage cables to household doorsteps, and fitted every home with an individual electricity meter.

Similar transformations have unfolded across Shaanxi. Eleven prefecture-level power supply subsidiaries under State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power have partnered with local governments to formulate rectification plans, rolling out tailored solutions for each of the 456 communities running on temporary construction power.

"To bring permanent power to these communities, we engaged the developer and the administrative committee of the Ankang National High-tech Industrial Development Zone. We persuaded the original developer to inject the required funds and arranged for enterprises under the committee to carry out the construction work," said Tang Dehai, general manager of the Ankang high-tech zone branch of State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power.

Under State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power's demand-driven, collaborative governance model, construction and grid connection work for all 456 communities, home to 600,000 households, was completed by Dec 19, 2025. Hangtian Xingyuan's permanent power supply was officially switched on in late January this year.

To prevent recurrence of such problems, the company has teamed up with housing and urban-rural development authorities at provincial, municipal and county levels to embed permanent power supply arrangements into project approval procedures.

Permanent power facilities are now planned, designed, built, inspected and commissioned in tandem with the main structures of residential developments. A valid permanent power connection has become a mandatory prerequisite for developers to complete project filing and property handover.