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Highest retail electricity price raised to VND3,100/kwh
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has released a document stipulating the retail electricity prices to be applied as of March 1, 2009. Electricity prices will be different depending on time of consumption.
The ministry said that the electricity prices have been designed in a way to encourage people to save electricity and to consume electricity in slow hours.
The retail price for production consumption in rush hour will be VND1,900/kwh, for business consumption VND3,100/kwh. Meanwhile, the retail price for household consumption will be calculated in accordance with the consumption volume. The more electricity people use, the higher the price they have to pay. The highest retail price for household consumption will be VND1,790/kwh.
Under the new electricity prices set by MOIT, the retail price for household consumption will have seven levels instead of five as currently applied, and will not discriminate between rural and urban areas.
Consumers will have to pay VND600/kwh for the first 50 kwh of consumption, VND865/kwh for the 51st-100th kwh. (The current price level is VND550/kwh for the first 100kwh of consumption). The prices will be VND1,135/kwh for 101st-150kwh, and VND1,495/kwh for the 151st-200th kwh (up by VND20-25/kwh over the currently applied levels). Consumers will have to pay VND1,620/kwh for the 201st-300th kwh, and VND1,740/kwh for the 301st-400th kwh. The price will be VND1,790/kwh for the 401st kwh of consumption and up (up by VND10/kwh).
There will be 12 different price levels for the production sector with the lowest level at VND455/kwh and highest VND1,900/kwh. Meanwhile, the lowest price for business consumption will be VND835/kwh and highest VND3,100/kwh. The retail prices to be applied to administrative agencies will be between VND950/kwh and VND1,135/kwh.
The wholesale electricity price to be applied to rural areas will also include seven levels between VND420/kwh (for the first 50 kwh of consumption) and VND1,345/kwh (for the 401st kwh and up).
According to MOIT, the electricity price levels were set after considering eight key factors, including the commercial electricity output in 2009, the coal price, DO price for power generation and exchange rate.
It is estimated that the total merchandise electricity output of Vietnam will reach 74,701bil kwh this year. The total volume of electricity Vietnam churns out and imports to serve economic development is estimated to reach 85,046bil kwh.
MOIT said that the adjusted electricity price will not greatly impact people’s lives and production. The additional sum of money to be collected from the electricity price increase is estimated at VND6,400bil in 2009, or 0.35% of GDP slated for 2009.
As the price level for the first 50kwh of consumption will remain at a low level, poor families, which use less than 50kwh a month, will have to pay no more than VND 2,500 more a month. It is estimated that some 3mil families have the consumption volume of less than 50kwh a month, including 2.4mil poor families.
VietNamNet, VnMedia
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