New regulations on 'power cuts' coming soon

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said it will revise the draft Law on Electricity (amended) in the direction of only stipulating the time limit for electricity units to notify electricity customers is 24 hours.

Clarifying the form of notification and power outage

Ministry of Industry and Trade has just received and explained the review report of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment (KHCN&MT) on the project. Law on Electricity (amended).

According to the Committee of Science, Technology and Environment, currently the power outage greatly affects electricity customers. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly define the “earliest notice” specifically, and what form of notice is needed to ensure effectiveness and transparency.

The Committee on Science, Technology and Environment also proposed clarifying and specifying the competent authority to request power outage; avoiding abuse of power and ensuring that requests for power outage are reasonable.

Explaining this issue, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that there is currently a regulation requiring notification as soon as possible but no later than 24 hours. This means that within 24 hours, the electricity unit must notify the buyer. The form of notification will be specified in detail by the Ministry of Industry and Trade when issuing the procedure for stopping or reducing the power supply.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that there will be regulations on each competent authority to request the suspension or reduction of electricity supply.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the provisions in the Draft Law on Electricity (amended) on stopping and reducing the level of electricity supply inherit the provisions of the Law on Electricity 2004 and have been implemented by the Ministry for many years, have been stable and put into practice. However, regarding the content of "earliest notification", the Drafting Committee will take into account the opinions of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment to revise the draft to ensure transparency and clarity in the direction of only stipulating the latest deadline for the electricity sector to notify electricity customers is 24 hours.

“Regarding specific forms of notification to customers, the draft assigns the Ministry of Industry and Trade to specify the procedures for stopping the reduction of electricity supply. At that time, the Ministry will specify the forms of notification to guide the units in implementation and in accordance with the practical situation,” said the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Regarding the competent authority requesting to stop or reduce electricity supply, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, this is currently not regulated in the Draft Electricity Law.

"When the Electricity Law is promulgated, the Government will amend the decree regulating the handling of administrative violations in the electricity sector. At that time, based on each violation and the handling authority, it will specifically stipulate the competent authority to propose stopping or reducing electricity supply," the Ministry of Industry and Trade explained.

Many problems remain unresolved

One of the issues that the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment is concerned about and recommends continuing to clarify in the draft Law on Electricity (amended) is the development of energy sources. renewable energy According to the Committee, the drafting agency needs to conduct practical testing, evaluate, and perfect new issues, especially regulations related to offshore wind power, to ensure feasibility and effectiveness in implementation.

Explaining this issue, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that renewable energy is a new field for Vietnam. The exploitation and use of offshore wind is governed by many laws and is under the management of different ministries and branches. Therefore, when finalizing regulations related to offshore wind power development, it is necessary to consider, build corresponding to other relevant laws...

Vietnam aims to develop 6,000 MW of offshore wind power by 2030, but implementation is currently facing many obstacles.

“Currently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has preliminarily identified difficulties in implementing development. offshore wind power and reported to the Prime Minister. After receiving consensus from the ministries and instructions from the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will study, review and propose additional regulations and responsibilities of relevant ministries and branches," said the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Regarding unresolved problems and difficulties related to renewable energy projects, the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment requested the Government to direct relevant agencies and localities to urgently find synchronous solutions and resolve them thoroughly to avoid wasting social resources and create a favorable and safe investment environment...

Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that it is coordinating with relevant ministries, branches, provincial People's Committees and the Government Inspectorate to create favorable conditions for attracting domestic and foreign resources to ensure electricity supply security and socio-economic development of the country.

Regarding the timing of passing the Electricity Law (amended) project, the Ministry of Industry and Trade believes that the scope of the amendment focuses on urgent, mature, and clear issues, so it needs to be passed soon in the 8th Session to resolve urgent issues.

Meanwhile, the majority of members of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment (35/43 delegates) agreed with the plan to pass the law in two sessions. Some committees of the National Assembly felt that if the revised Electricity Law was submitted to the National Assembly for comments and passed according to the one-session process during the ongoing 8th session, it would be relatively urgent.

Source