Problems in handing over rural power grid

(Baonghean) -Up to now, Nghe An Electricity has received the power grid of more than 320 communes with 6,027 km, 3,627 meters. However, due to many reasons, the work of receiving the rural power grid is still slower than planned....

Delayed handover, people suffer

According to statistics from Nghe An Electricity, there are currently about 129 communes in the province that have not yet handed over the rural power grid, including 49 communes in R2, 43 communes in the expanded R2, 37 communes outside the project that have not yet handed over assets to the power company for management and electricity sale, including 3 communes excluded from the expanded RE2 project: Thanh Tung (Thanh Chuong) and Dien Lien, Dien Dong (Dien Chau) and 2 communes with new electricity: Tam Hop and Xieng My (Tuong Duong). Due to the increasing demand for electricity, localities are facing financial difficulties and do not have the conditions to repair and upgrade the power grid, so the electricity supply in rural areas has hardly improved.

In many places, people still have to use electricity at high prices but the quality of electricity is poor. Typically, in Van Son commune (Do Luong), although since March 31, 2011 the government adjusted the electricity price for households to an average price of 1,242 VND/kW, an increase of 165 VND/kW compared to the average electricity price in 2010. However, over 1,100 households in 13 hamlets have to pay an electricity price of 1,640 VND/kW because Van Son Electricity Cooperative had to adjust the electricity price to compensate for the loss of electricity costs. Hung Chinh Cooperative (formerly Hung Nguyen district, now Vinh city) currently has about 1,400 customers, although it has collected electricity bills 1,200 thousand VND higher than the wholesale price, it is still losing money.

Mr. Phan Duc Han - Chairman of Hung Chinh Cooperative said: because the old power grid system has high losses, up to 32% in some months, it cannot be accounted for, so sometimes there is no money to pay the electricians for 5 consecutive months. The Cooperative has applied for the power grid handover since July 2010, but it has not been resolved yet. In Hung Nguyen district, there are currently 11 power cooperatives in 8 communes with about 11,000 customers. Many cooperatives are also in a similar situation. In Dien Bich commune (Dien Chau district), people are also looking forward to the Cooperative handing over the power grid soon, especially for households specializing in purchasing seafood from fishermen. They hope to have a strong, stable power source to serve the cold storage.

According to Mr. Bui Hong Than - Chairman of Dien Bich Electricity Cooperative (Dien Chau), up to now, the commune has completed the installation of 4 transformer stations, replaced electric poles, new power lines, and is eligible for handover. However, it is not known when it will be received. Mr. Phan Van Tuyen - Vice Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee also said: In Yen Thanh area, there are currently 20 communes that have handed over the national grid, while 18 communes have not yet handed over (including communes under RE2), the current rural grid system has degraded, with large power losses while electricity prices are increasing, the people's wish is for the electricity sector to soon complete the handover of the rural grid to use electricity at original price. As of July 2011, Nghe An province had about 40 units (including those not in the project and those under RE2 project) that submitted a document to hand over rural grid assets to the electricity sector for management, of which 21 communes had partially handed over.... This delay causes people to suffer because they have to buy electricity at high prices but with low quality and poor safety. This is also a hot issue that is frequently raised at meetings with voters of National Assembly deputies and provincial People's Council sessions in recent times.

Difficulties after reception

Talking about the delay in handing over the rural power grid, Mr. Pham Van Nga - Head of Nghe An Electricity Business Department, the problem is that at the time the electricity industry received the handover, many rural electricity cooperatives were "doing well" so they deliberately refused to hand over. Currently, the difference between wholesale price and selling price is not much (about 18%) plus the loss of electricity due to the old and dilapidated power grid system, business is not profitable, these cooperatives want to hand over to the electricity industry. But currently the capital to upgrade the rural power grid is very difficult. Because the rural power grid is managed by local agencies, selling electricity to consumers, it has not been maintained for a long time, so it is damaged and "torn". In many places, the power pole system is made of wooden poles, bamboo, self-cast concrete, the wiring system, and electricity meters are old and not guaranteed, leading to a loss of electricity of up to 30-35%.

To fix and renovate the rural power grid system not only takes time and effort but also requires a huge amount of funding. That is not to mention that many localities have been implementing RE2 and RE2 expansion projects, so the volume of receipt and the value of refund are very large. On the other hand, currently most electricity business organizations have too many workers, 4-5 times the staff of the electricity industry.

Therefore, the problem of receiving human resources from these organizations is extremely difficult, especially when most of these workers do not meet professional qualifications. Mr. Loi - Head of Planning - Materials - Nghe An Electricity Department said: After receiving, the electricity industry has invested a lot of money to renovate the rural power grid. Currently, the RE2 project to invest in medium and low voltage grids for 50 communes with a budget of about 100 billion VND of the company has basically been completed, the RE2 project to expand 43 more communes with a budget of 72 billion VND is also being urgently implemented. The company is preparing investment procedures to renovate the newly received low voltage grid for nearly 300 communes with about 640 billion VND of loan capital from the German Government's Reconstruction Bank....

However, to complete the goal of receiving and renovating the rural power grid, in addition to the efforts of the electricity industry, it also requires consensus and active support from local leaders as well as people using electricity in rural areas./.

Khanh Ly - Dang Cuong