this has led to a financial squeeze on power generators and forced them to offset losses incurred from power generation by expanding activity in profitable noncore businesses including component manufacturing electricity prices to endusers also often deviate from the nationallydetermined benchmark with provincial and local governments at times employing preferential pricing to support industrial objectives chen prices also vary geographically depending on the level of affluence with lower prices offered in poorer regions electricity prices are hence used as both a redistributive tool as well as an instrument for industrial policy however as environmental protection sometimes lags in the poorer parts of the country luring businesses to these areas through cheaper energy is likely to be particularly environmentally harmful