The Government's Electronic Information Portal yesterday hosted a workshop entitled ‘Electricity Costs - Current Situation and Solutions’ which was attended by managers, delegates from the National Assembly, as well as experts in the fields of economics and energy.
Immediately after the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced the electricity cost in 2023, the public raised questions about the calculation method as well as the process of reviewing and auditing the electricity cost. At the workshop, former Director of the Price Management Department Nguyen Tien Thoa said that according to inter-sectoral inspection data, the electricity production cost was VND2,088 per kWh, while the average selling price was VND1,953 per kWh, meaning the electricity cost was 6.92 percent higher than the average selling price.
This buying high and selling low is causing numerous inadequacies and significant repercussions for electricity production, businesses, electricity-dependent industries, and the economy at large. Workshop participants also noted that the current electricity prices make it difficult to attract investment in power development. Therefore, it's crucial to align the selling price of electricity more closely with its production cost.
On the same day, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced the inspection results of EVN's production and business costs in 2023, showing that EVN's financial situation faced many challenges with huge losses despite the increase in revenue and the increase in the selling price of commercial electricity.
Accordingly, EVN's total electricity production and business costs were VND528,604.24 billion, an increase of VND35,338 billion (US$1,342,560,764), equivalent to a 7.16 percent increase compared to 2022. This cost includes the stages of power generation, transmission, distribution, retail, auxiliary and industry management.
The average selling price of commercial electricity in 2023 was VND1,953.57 per kWh, an increase of 3.76 percent compared to 2022. However, EVN's electricity production and business results in 2023 incurred a loss of VND34,244.96 billion. Revenue from activities related to electricity production and business in 2023 was VND12,423.40 billion .
In total, EVN's electricity production and business activities in 2023 and activities related to electricity production and business in 2023 (income from financial activities and from the sale of reactive power) incurred a loss of VND21,821.56 billion excluding income from other production.
