Improving the total-factor carbon emission efficiency of the power industry (TCEPI) is of great significance for realizing the low-carbon development of power industry and promoting the transformation of society to green development. Considering the technological heterogeneity of different regions in China, this paper adopted the Meta-frontier Global Malmquist-Luenberger (MGML) index to measure TCEPI in 30 provinces from 2003 to 2017, and then analyzed the dynamic evolution and regional differences of TCEPI. Finally, the two-step system GMM model was used to explore the influencing factors of TCEPI. The results showed that: (1) During the survey period, the average annual growth rate of TCEPI in China was 4.2%, and average values of TCEPI in all provinces were greater than 1. The innovation effect was the key to TCEPI growth, while the catch-up effect and leading effect were not significant. (2) There was obvious technological heterogeneity in the three regions of China. TCEPI showed a decreasing trend from the western to eastern and central regions, with average annual growth rates of 5.69%, 3.66% and 2.89%, respectively, and the driving factors of each region were different. Moreover, the technology gap among the regions was constantly narrowing. (3) Both the economic development level and the R&D level had played a significant role in promoting TCEPI, while the intensity of power consumption had hindered the rise of TCEPI to a large extent. Based on the conclusions of this article, relevant policy recommendations were put forward to improve TCEPI in China.