Reaction of HCMC residents when receiving April electricity bill

The April electricity bill of many households in Ho Chi Minh City increased by 40%-50%, even doubling compared to the previous month.

After the April 30 and May 1 holidays, on many forums and social networks, people "showed off" their April electricity bills.

On a community group, someone posted the content "Nowadays, players should stop showing off their branded goods, show off their electricity bills", after just over 20 minutes, it attracted more than 100 comments. Many members of this community said that the electricity bill in April increased by 40%-50% compared to March, but because they had prepared themselves mentally, they were not shocked.

Mr. Nguyen Vinh Hieu, living in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City, said that his family only has 2 spouses, the normal electricity bill is only about 450,000 - 460,000 VND, in March 2024 it increased to 550,000 VND but in April it jumped to 725,000 VND. "I live in an apartment, normally I just need to open all the windows, doors and use a fan to cool down. But for nearly ten days now, I have had to turn on the air conditioner in the living room almost 24/24 hours, all activities have been moved to the living room to avoid the heat and save as much electricity as possible" - Mr. Hieu explained.

Similarly, Ms. Ngoc, living in Binh Thanh District, said that she had just paid more than VND997,000 for electricity, the highest amount her family has ever paid. "Mainly because we use air conditioning a lot. It's so hot, without air conditioning we can't breathe" - Ms. Ngoc explained.

However, many people were still surprised when they saw their electricity bills even though they had been "mentally prepared" beforehand. Mr. Tran Van Thai, a resident of District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, said he could not believe his eyes when he saw his April electricity bill of nearly VND5 million, an increase of VND2 million compared to the previous month.

"The house has 3 air conditioners and 2 refrigerators that are on 24/7. My wife and children are used to using the air conditioner at around 23-24 degrees Celsius, but on hot days we have to set it down to 20-21 degrees Celsius to be cool enough. We knew the electricity bill would go up, but we didn't expect it to jump so much," Mr. Thai confided.

Reaction of HCMC residents when receiving April electricity bill photo 1

Electricity bill of nearly 5 million VND of Mr. Tran Van Thai's household

With the extremely hot weather in April, the electricity industry has predicted that household electricity output will increase and electricity bills will increase.

Since late March, Ho Chi Minh City Electricity Corporation (EVNHCMC) has predicted that electricity consumption in April will reach an "unprecedented level in history" due to the peak of hot weather, with temperatures at many times exceeding 37-40 degrees Celsius. There are also more hot hours during the day, even at night. Therefore, customers' demand for electricity has also increased, mainly due to the use of more cooling and heating devices, especially air conditioners.

"Household electricity output in April increased by 12% compared to March and increased by 20% compared to April 2023. During the month, the number of customers using level 6 increased to 44% of the total number of customers using household electricity (in a normal month, it only accounts for about 25%). Therefore, the electricity bill of many households increased sharply in April" - Mr. Bui Trung Kien, Deputy General Director of EVNHCMC, explained.

According to the forecast of the hydrometeorological center, in May the temperature will decrease compared to April and the rainy season will begin but it will still be high, the sunny hours during the day will be long, so the Ho Chi Minh City electricity industry recommends that people continue to increase electricity saving solutions.