|
Electricity charges power industrial park dispute
Tenants at a Ho Chi Minh City industrial park are up in arms over what they say are exploitative electricity charges imposed on them by their Taiwan-invested landlord and power supplier.
Dozens of companies at Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park in Nha Be District are complaining that they have been paying 20 percent more than Electricity of Vietnam prices for around one year.
The Hiep Phuoc Power Company, a subsidiary of industrial park owner and operator Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park Joint Stock Company, is selling power at more than VND1, 000/kWh (6 U.S. cents) during off-peak hours and over VND2, 000/kWh (12 U.S. cents) during peak hours.
In September of last year, Hiep Phuoc Power Company raised electricity charges by 25 percent, according to companies at the park.
Electricity generation and distribution are tightly regulated in Vietnam. The one exception is in industrial parks, where private companies are permitted to both generate and sell power to tenants.
The government has set a cap on chargeable rates of up to 25 percent more than EVN prices. To date, 32 of 80 companies at the park estimate they have shelled out an additional VND21 billion ($11.7 million) since the power hike.
Hiep Phuoc Power Company representatives, however, said they were forced to increase prices in 2008 after oil prices soared, claiming a 300 percent increase in generation costs.
But companies said world oil prices have dropped from $120-140 per barrel September last year to $60-70 now.
Power prices triggered outrage in early July when the utility company announced that it would not supply power from July 25 to 28 due to the pre-scheduled construction of the Nhon Trach-Nha Be 220KV power line.
Sai Gon Premier Container Terminal Co. deputy director Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, said her company would suffer a loss of $550,000 in the event of a four-day outage.
Le Huu Sang, production manager of Saint-Gobain Co, which produces gypsum products, estimated his firm’s potential losses at $120,000.
Representatives of 80 firms based in the industrial park insisted that it ensure continuous power supply or take responsibility for estimated losses of up to $9 million.
The threat of a four-day power disruption eased for companies after the HCMC Electricity switched on a 22KV transmission line to supply power on July 23.
Nguyen Van Thanh, a senior official of the utility, said the company began supplying power shortly before the Hiep Phuoc Power Company was due to suspend supplies.
HCMC Electricity invested more than VND500 million ($27.7 million) to lay the 22KV transmission line.
Hiep Phuoc Power Company has supplied power for the park since 1998 under a 50-year contract.
Thuy Hang
vietnews
|
