Need to be studied carefully
At the Price Steering Committee meeting, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed adjusting electricity prices this year to reflect fluctuations in input costs and help Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) have resources to pay investors of power plants.
Speaking with Lao Dong, a representative of the Price Management Department - Ministry of Finance said that for electricity, in 2023, there were 2 adjustments according to EVN's decision based on the management and supervision of competent state agencies, the increases were 3% and 4.5% respectively.
The assessment of the impact of electricity price adjustment is carefully carried out in the price management scenarios of the Prime Minister's Price Management Steering Committee to ensure both the goal of controlling inflation and supporting socio-economic development.
According to the Price Management Department, the total for the year due to the impact of EVN's price adjustment and increased electricity demand during Tet and the hot summer, the price index of household electricity increased by 4.86% and impacted the overall CPI by 0.16 percentage points.
Speaking with Lao Dong, Prof. Dr. Vo Dai Luoc - former Director of the Institute of Economics and Politics said that increasing electricity prices is necessary to compensate for losses, but EVN needs to be open and transparent in electricity purchase and sale prices and business results so as not to affect people's psychology.
Regarding the increase in electricity prices, according to Professor Vo Dai Luoc, the increase in electricity prices should be less than 5% under the authority of EVN. This increase is just enough for EVN to resolve the accumulated losses while avoiding widespread impacts on the people.
Regarding the timing of the electricity price increase, Mr. Luoc said that electricity prices should absolutely not be increased during the hot season (from May to July) to avoid shocking increases in electricity bills, causing frustration for customers, so electricity prices should be increased in October this year.
However, Mr. Ngo Duc Lam - former Deputy Director of the Institute of Energy, emphasized that accelerating power source projects instead of increasing prices is a fundamental solution for the electricity industry, instead of using electricity price increases to handle EVN's losses. Therefore, the proposal to increase electricity prices needs to be carefully studied.
According to expert Lam, electricity prices need stability to minimize adverse impacts on macroeconomic stability and social security, because electricity prices are different from other products such as gasoline and oil, which are immediately affected by world prices and do not require short-term adjustment frequencies.
EVN recommends customers save electricity
Meanwhile, Mr. Vo Quang Lam - Deputy General Director of Vietnam Electricity Group said that EVN's 2024 tasks have a series of contents that the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Government are particularly interested in, the most basic of which is to still ensure electricity supply.
"EVN identifies three key areas including ensuring electricity supply, developing and maintaining power sources and grids, and encouraging electricity saving mechanisms," said an EVN leader.
Regarding supply assurance, Mr. Lam said that currently EVN holds 37% of the power source structure, the group's power plants have been thoroughly understood, must always ensure maintenance of operations, water storage, enough coal and prepare scenarios for early repair and maintenance of machinery.
More than 63% of other power sources currently belong to other corporations such as Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (TKV), Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN), private partners in wind, solar, and biomass power. EVN also coordinates to ask them to prepare supply scenarios to avoid power shortages.
Regarding power source and grid development, EVN Deputy General Director said that before 2016, EVN participated in this field more, but currently there are not many new investment projects, so power source and grid are still limited.
If investing in new power sources and power grids depends on financial capacity, takes a long time, and is difficult to do immediately, then solutions to save electricity and use it effectively can be done immediately and benefit both the electricity industry and the country.
Most importantly at this time, EVN leaders emphasized that the group wants all of its customers to participate in the electricity saving plan, the largest of which are industrial - construction customers and household customers.
Source
Comment (0)