Vietnam: Power Prices May Soar to VND917 per kWh
Related ministries, agencies and authorities in Vietnam February 27 gathered at a meeting in Hanoi to discuss plans to raise power retail prices but have not yet decided to bring the rate to VND890/kilowatt hours or VND917 per kWh.
A power price regulating roadmap approved by the Vietnamese government said that the average retail power prices will be hiked to VND890 per kWh from July 1, 2008, up 6.6 per cent against the current VND842.
However, Dinh Quang Tri, deputy general director of the state-owned Electricity of Vietnam group (EVN) proposed another plan to raise the prices to VND917 per kWh in order to offset the group’s losses in power sales.
Tri said that the power price plans have not yet counted the recent petroleum price soar.
EVN is loosing VND1.4 trillion (US$87.5 million) due to the surge of 20.42 per cent in its material costs, Tri elaborated.
If EVN’s proposal is approved, the group’s loss will be reduced to VND500 billion (US$31.25 million).
Under the aforementioned roadmap, the first power price hike took into effect from January 1, 2007 and the third from 2010 when the electricity price will be adjusted in accordance with the world fluctuations. (Capital Security, HCM City Law)
Vietnamese
