Ministry to weigh electricity price hike proposal carefully
VOV.VN - The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will carefully consider all options to adjust electricity prices reasonably, said MoIT deputy minister Do Thang Hai referring to Electricity of Vietnam (EVN)’s proposal to hike retail electricity prices.
EVN, the largest State-owned power company in Vietnam, reported it has faced a huge loss of more than VND31 trillion (estimated) this year due to soaring production input costs, therefore increasing retail electricity prices is a matter of urgency.
Input costs for electricity production in the world, the region and Vietnam have all increased over the years, affecting the cost of electricity production, deputy minister Hai said.
Sharp global energy market fluctuations, geographical tension in Europe, and rising inflationary pressure fueled electricity prices in many countries, and Vietnam is no exception.
Statistics show that the average price of imported coal for power plants in Vietnam in the first 10 months of 2022 increased by more than 150% compared to the average in 2021. The price of domestic mixed coal by the end of the third quarter of 2022 soared by more than 50% compared to the average price of 2021.
All these factors have made electricity production and purchasing costs much higher than expected at the beginning of the year, said Hai.
According to the trade official, a Government’s decision issued in 2017 clearly stipulates that electricity prices will be adjusted every six months to match the actual situation. However, he said it has been four years since the last adjustment of retail electricity prices in Vietnam.
Unlike petroleum prices, the cost of electricity production and business depends highly on the rainy and dry seasons of the year. In addition, as electricity prices have a great impact on the macro-economy and people’s lives, the management of electricity prices needs to be carefully considered and fully assessed.
The MoIT will calculate, carefully consider and report to the competent authorities so that the adjustment of electricity prices will be reasonable, minimizing its impact on the economy and people’s lives, said deputy minister Hai.