Increasing electricity prices must go hand in hand with improving service quality.

Worry about increased spending costs

During the hottest days in Nghe An, the outdoor temperature in some places reached 44 degrees Celsius, causing the demand for electricity to increase, especially the frequency of turning on air conditioners in households as well as businesses, agencies and offices. Ms. Phan Thi Vinh, who has a grocery store at Hung Dung market, Vinh city, said that the heat waves in Nghe An from the beginning of 2023 until now have not only increased the frequency of using electrical appliances, but also the business booth at the market has had to add more electric fans.

Ms. Vinh said that due to the nature of her spice and dried food stall, she could not install air conditioning. However, due to the hot weather and the frequent number of people coming in and out to buy, she had to install two fans on both sides of the door, both to cool down customers when they shop and to help the sellers reduce fatigue from having to move around and exercise frequently.

A business booth next to Hung Dung market spends an average of 1 million VND on electricity each month, and more than 2 million VND in peak months. Photo: HT

“Normally, when the weather is cool, the shop spends about 400,000 VND on electricity each month. At home, with 2 air conditioners and other electrical appliances, I have to pay about 1.8 million VND per month for electricity. Now that the electricity price has increased by 3%, I will have to pay about 2 million VND per month for electricity at home, plus about 500,000 VND for my business, while my income from trading for the past two years has not recovered to the previous level. Not only the electricity price, but also the increase in gasoline, consumer prices, and bank interest rates have made the burden even heavier,” Ms. Vinh said.

Although it is a rural area, his family and many other households have for many years, in addition to cooking rice with electric pots, also switched to using induction cookers for daily cooking. Not to mention cooling devices, refrigerators, heaters, clothes dryers, etc. Therefore, in winter or summer, most of the monthly electricity consumption tends to increase, rarely decreasing.

According to the reporter's research, the amount of electricity consumed by households in Vinh city ranges from 500,000 VND to 2.5 million VND/household/month depending on the area and economic capacity of each case. However, the number of households consuming an average of 1 - 2 million VND/month is common.

Sharing about his family's electricity consumption, Mr. Nguyen The Nghia in Hung Dong commune, Vinh city said that on average, he pays about 1.5 million VND per month for electricity. During peak hot months, it can be up to 2-2.5 million VND/month, especially when he has small children and family members living far away. Mr. Nghia also said that nowadays, electrical and electronic devices are increasingly modern and diverse in types, and most of them are electrical devices.

Each classroom at Hung Dung 2 Primary School is equipped with many electrical devices. Photo: HT

“I work in the business of repairing used cars and motorbikes, but for the past two years, business has been sluggish and my income has been unstable. My wife is a worker but has also quit her job for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so now we have to cut down on unnecessary expenses. Now the electricity price has been adjusted up, the prices of consumer goods and services have increased, while income has decreased, so I am quite worried if the business situation does not improve,” said Mr. Nghia.

As for agencies and units, the increase in electricity prices also comes with concerns about increased spending costs, while revenue does not increase as shared by leaders of some schools in Vinh city. For example, at Hung Dung 2 Primary School, the amount of electricity consumed for teaching, eating, and sleeping for students is about 8-9 million VND per month on average. During peak hot months such as April and May, the electricity bill can be up to 15 million VND per month.

During the hottest days, people's demand for air conditioning is many times higher than usual. Photo: HT

“The source of money to pay for electricity costs is taken from the state budget allocated for the regular activities of the unit, plus revenue from boarding school activities, extracurricular teaching activities, and steam. These sources of revenue are implemented according to regulations and approved by superiors and have been stable since the beginning of the year. Therefore, when the electricity price increases, the school must balance and reduce other expenses to compensate for the additional costs,” said Ms. Hoang Thi Thuy, the school’s principal.

According to 2022 statistics from Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), businesses are selling electricity to 528,000 business service customers. On average, business customers pay VND5.3 million/month for electricity. After the price change, each customer will pay an additional VND141,000/month. EVN also has 1.822 million production households. On average, each production household pays VND10.6 million/month for electricity. After the price change, each month will pay an additional VND307,000/month. With 662,000 administrative and career customers, each customer pays an average of VND2.01 million/month for electricity. After the price change, customers in this group will pay an additional VND40,000/month.

Price increase goes hand in hand with service quality increase

In hamlet 1, Dai Son commune, Do Luong district, the heat wave at the end of April 2023 lasted for weeks, especially the heat wave at the beginning of May, causing people's electricity demand to increase. In an area quite far from the commune center, during the peak heat wave in the late afternoon, people had to turn off other electrical appliances to "prioritize" power for air conditioners. The reason, according to local people, is that the power transmission line is not "wide" enough to transmit during times of high demand.

“Recently, the Electricity Company has installed an additional transmission station, but in the “end of the line” hamlets far from the station, the electricity is still weak. Hopefully, in the coming time, the quality of the power transmission line will be enhanced so that people’s electricity use will not be interrupted. During hot weather, every family uses at least one air conditioner, not to mention other cooling devices, so the phenomenon of weak electricity still occurs, not enough to operate machinery to serve daily needs. We hope that when electricity prices increase, the quality of service must also be improved,” said Mr. Le Van Anh, hamlet 1.

In Quy Hop, Que Phong, and Quy Chau districts, power outages and low power supply still occur frequently, especially when people have high demand for electricity. Ms. Cao Thi Luu in Tam Hop commune (Quy Hop) said that Quy Hop is one of the localities with the highest temperature in Nghe An province during the heat wave that lasted from May 5-7, sometimes reaching over 42 degrees Celsius. However, at the time of intense heat, when people need electricity to run air conditioners, electric fans, and ice makers, there was a power outage.

Installing power transmission system in Quy Hop. Photo: HT

“There are power outages during peak hours, the power fluctuates erratically, causing electrical appliances in the house to quickly break down, making it more expensive to buy new equipment and repair it. Not to mention that the electricity price will increase soon, if the electricity supply is unstable, we will not be satisfied, we hope the service provider will invest in better customer care” - Ms. Luu expressed.

According to statistics from Nghe An Electricity Company, the growth rate of electricity load in Nghe An has begun to increase. The estimated commercial electricity output in April 2023 is about 345 million kWh, an increase of 5.5% compared to the previous month. The main reason is that this is the beginning of the hot season, tourism business services start to operate strongly, so the demand for electricity also increases, cooling devices in the family operate at full capacity, leading to an increase in the amount of electricity used for domestic purposes. Therefore, people want to improve the quality of electricity transmission services in parallel with the adjustment of electricity prices by businesses.