Minister Nguyen Hong Dien: There is no inappropriate electricity price management causing big losses for EVN.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien - Photo: National Assembly Media

On the morning of August 21, raising a question, delegate Huynh Thanh Phuong ( Tay Ninh ) said that voters and many experts believe that electricity price management has many shortcomings and this is one of the important reasons causing losses for the electricity industry of more than 47,000 billion VND in 2022 and 2023.

Therefore, he asked the Minister of Industry and Trade to state whether he agreed with this assessment and propose the best solution to manage electricity prices in the coming time.

Consulting on building pricing policies in compliance with the law

Responding to this question, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien affirmed that there is no such thing as electricity price management having many shortcomings causing losses for the electricity industry. He clearly stated that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is a state management agency that only performs three basic functions including planning, planning, mechanism, policy and inspection.

“We see that in advising on policy development, especially policies on electricity prices, we must comply with current laws, especially the Electricity Law and the Price Law. Accordingly, electricity is one of the commodities that must ensure price stability according to the State's direction," said Mr. Dien.

Regarding input, Mr. Dien said that currently EVN is the only unit with the function of buying and selling electricity, supplying electricity, and ensuring national electricity security, so it must buy according to market mechanisms, and output must ensure price stability.

Because electricity prices are related to and greatly affect other manufacturing industries, this leads to a difference between input and output prices.

"As I once reported to the National Assembly , the difference between EVN's buying and selling prices is about 208 - 216 VND/kWh," Mr. Dien added.

To review and amend the mechanism to help EVN avoid future losses, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is advising the Government to amend the Electricity Law, which will be submitted to the National Assembly at the 8th session in October.

Amendments in the direction of eliminating cross-subsidy between electricity customers; calculating correctly, fully, and completely the cost of electricity, including the cost of production, dispatch and operation of the electricity system...

In addition, the Government has decided to bring the A0 Dispatch Center under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, to ensure transparency and fairness in the operation and dispatch of the power system, between power generation and power usage units.

In addition, the Government has just issued a decree on direct electricity trading for large electricity users, and is preparing to issue a decree to encourage the development of rooftop solar power. These steps will gradually make the electricity market more perfect.

"Currently, the competitive electricity generation and purchasing markets have been implemented relatively well, while the competitive retail electricity market will continue to be studied and perfected in the Electricity Law draft and current regulations will be amended," Mr. Dien emphasized.

Market management officials protect violations?

Regarding the information that delegates mentioned that there are currently some market management officials protecting people with wrongdoings, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said "that is completely correct".

According to Mr. Dien, market management officers operate in a single line, each person in each position has the authority and responsibility to decide whether to impose a penalty or not, and determine whether the behavior violates or violates the law.

Due to this nature, Mr. Dien stated that the industry and trade sector has directed the regular rotation of work areas for officials in charge of the areas and assigned responsibility to the head. If violations occur, they will be handled very strictly according to regulations.

At the same time, continue to advise on amending and supplementing mechanisms and policies, especially in inspection, supervision and handling of violations.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien also said that recently the ministry has requested and handled many violations from the team and department level management staff in the locality, handled the staff directly handling the cases in the area and dozens of staff in the area have been transferred to the competent authorities for handling.

He emphasized that the industry will continue to do a good job in education and management, continue to improve the responsibility of leaders, coordinate with forces to detect and handle violations, and do a good job of rotating areas...

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bo-truong-nguyen-hong-dien-khong-co-viec-dieu-hanh-gia-dien-bat-cap-gay-lo-lon-cho-evn-20240821113442768.htm