EVN wants to hike power rate, despite pledge not to
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Vietnam’s state-run monopoly Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has requested permission to increase electricity prices, saying it needs more money to finance new power plants, despite a pledge to keep prices steady until the end of June, Thanh Nien reported.
This has come just two weeks after EVN said it would not raise power prices despite losses to the company because the economy was still suffering from inflation.
“The group has suffered losses, but we cannot increase power prices as the country’s economic conditions remain difficult,” EVN Deputy General Director Dinh Quang Tri told VnExpress earlier.
Now, another deputy general director, Duong Quang Thanh, told VnExpress that the company has delayed and scaled down many utility projects to cut investment by more than VND12 trillion so far.
On June 1, a government regulation took effect, allowing EVN to raise electricity prices depending on market conditions but the government later issued a statement saying that electricity prices would not be raised in June at all, despite the new policy.
If market changes cause electricity production costs to increase by 5 percent, EVN will raise power prices at the same rate, subject to approval from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The average price of power has increased by 15.28 percent since March 1, but both the ministries of Finance and Industry and Trade said the rate was too low and the electricity sector still suffers losses.
Demand for electricity has exploded alongside Vietnam's fast-paced economic climb, outstripping supply and leading to frequent blackouts.
Pham Hung, deputy minister of Trade and Industry earlier said the country would have to add an average of 4,600 megawatts of power a year between 2011 and 2015, and 5,400 megawatts between 2016 and 2020.
