EVN Deputy General Director Bui Trung Kien
In recent days, many families in Ho Chi Minh City were quite surprised to look at their electricity bills as their August electricity bills went higher than normal, even doubling or tripling the previous months, even though their electricity consumption remained unchanged.
In a conversation with a reporter from SGGP Newspaper, EVN Deputy General Director Bui Trung Kien affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City's electricity industry changed the electricity index recording date from the first day of the month to the last day of the month for about 400,000 customers across the city. This change is to serve customers better.
First, changes in the date of the electricity index recording help customers remember that the recording date is the end of the month. Second, the electricity usage time is complete in a month, so consumers will easily distinguish the amount of electricity used each month to adjust their electricity demand. The electricity industry also considered and chose this move at an appropriate time, not in the middle of a hot month.
Nevertheless, he asserted that electricity retail prices have not increased. The sector raised its retail electricity prices by 3 percent to an average of VND1,728 (US$0.08) per kilowatt hour in May which has since applied until now. Customers pay more simply because the electricity index recording date includes more days but the price indeed remains unchanged.
He took an example of retail electricity prices for domestic use. The current recording cycle is until mid-August 2023, Consumers in the level 1 electricity consumption norm will pay VND1,728 per kilowatt hour for the first 50 kWh, but if the bill is extended until August 31, the level 1 price of VND1,728 per kilowatt hour will be charged for the first 90 per kilowatt hour. Similarly, the level 2 price of VND1,786 per kilowatt hour will be charged for the first 90 per kilowatt hour, not for the usual 50 per kilowatt hour. The following price tiers are similarly extended.
Thus, people have to pay more for electricity than because the electricity bill cycle is extended, not because of changes in electricity prices, said Mr. Kien. According to him, EVN is a state-owned enterprise; thus, its operation must comply with the provisions of current laws, so it can't arbitrarily change electricity prices without the government’s approval.
The group has been well prepared for the change of electricity bill. It notified the local administrations which will disseminate the information of the change in electricity index recording date as well as send information through information channels such as Zalo, through the registered phone number, and through the Customer Care application of customers who have registered for the transfer date.
According to the group’s statistics, most of the customers received information about this change.
By Duc Trung - Translated by Anh Quan