Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Overweight" rating for the public utility industry, expecting the industry index to outperform the market index by more than 10% in the next six months [47]. Core Insights - The public utility index increased by 0.7% over the past two weeks, underperforming the CSI 300 index by 0.9 percentage points, ranking 23rd among 31 industries [5][12]. - The report highlights significant growth in the number of market participants in the electricity sector, with 816,000 entities expected in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 8.9% [43]. - The report suggests focusing on specific companies such as Huadian International and Guodian Power in the thermal power sector, and Xin'ao Co., Jiufeng Energy, and New Natural Gas in the gas sector due to favorable market conditions [43][44]. Summary by Sections 1. Market Review - As of July 17, the public utility index has seen a 0.7% increase year-to-date, lagging behind the CSI 300 index by 1.8 percentage points, ranking 24th among 31 industries [5][12]. - All sub-sectors of the public utility index experienced growth, with the heating service sector rising by 5.2% and the photovoltaic power sector by 4.0% [14]. 2. Industry Valuation - The public utility sector's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is currently at 18.5 times, with the photovoltaic sector having a notably high P/E ratio of 776.9 times [20][21]. 3. Industry Data Tracking - The average price of Shenxi Yulin thermal coal (Q6000) was 584 RMB/ton, down 2.1% from the previous value, while the average price at Qinhuangdao Port (Q5500) was 623 RMB/ton, up 1.6% [33][36]. 4. Key Industry News - The National Development and Reform Commission has issued a response regarding the normalization of electricity trading mechanisms across grid operating areas, aiming for better resource allocation [41]. - The Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission released guidelines for emergency management in offshore wind power projects [41]. 5. Weekly Industry Perspective - The report emphasizes the importance of monitoring coal prices and suggests that the average price of thermal coal has decreased this year, which could impact thermal power companies [43].