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Ministry proposes lower peak-hour power rates
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed that the government lowers commercial power prices during morning peak hours by as much as 20 percent to help local businesses cut costs.
If approved, the new prices will take effect on August 1, but will be applied only to small companies purchasing power at medium voltage levels of 35 kilovolts or less. The ministry proposes no changes to the peak hour time frame.
Commercial power users are currently charged double the normal rates during two time slots – between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Before March 1, only use between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. was subject to peak rates.
Many businesses have since protested the extension of peak hours, arguing that it was unreasonable to be charged extra from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. as the slot is a key production period.
The ministry said it has completed a survey on the impacts of the extension at 40,000 businesses around the country over a three-month period starting March 1.
It found that companies operating only during office hours, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., were most affected by the new pricing policy as they had to pay an average of 17 percent more for power.
Meanwhile, companies that also work night shifts reported less than 10 percent increase in power costs, the ministry said.
In general the peak hour pricing policy does not have great impact on businesses, local newswire VietNamNet quoted Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Bui Xuan Khu as saying Friday.
The policy has worked as an incentive for businesses to save power use and helped ease the pressure on the national power grid, the ministry said.
thanhnien, vietnamplus
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