Roadmap for applying two-component electricity price

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will pilot the two-component retail electricity price from the beginning of 2026 and officially test it from mid-year as a premise for expanded application from August 2027.

In the near future, in addition to paying for electricity by kWh, consumers may have to pay for a second component, which is capacity - Photo: QUANG DINH

Two-component electricity price is understood as the price structure that customers have to pay for the registered capacity used together with the actual electricity consumption.

Expected 4-phase roadmap

According to the draft roadmap of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, phase 1 of the two-component retail electricity price will be implemented from 2025 to the middle of next year, applied to production customers implementing the direct electricity purchase and sale mechanism between renewable energy generators and large electricity users.

At this stage, the department will survey and collect all metering data such as electricity output of all customers; data on electricity usage characteristics...

Based on the data, the research department proposes to adjust the retail electricity price with two components in accordance with the input parameters; analyzes and makes preliminary recommendations on the customer groups that will be officially tested. Legal documents regulating the retail electricity price will also be developed for implementation.

Phase 2: from January 2026 to June 2026, communication and piloting will be conducted on paper. Specifically, the authorities will issue parallel invoices (not applicable for actual payments) to all applicable customers, along with instructions on the retail price of electricity in two components. Seminars and multimedia communications will be organized...

Phase 3 will be officially tested from July 2026 to July 2027, including actual payments according to the two-component retail electricity price list for selected customers for testing.

From there, we will monitor and evaluate the level of load changes, electricity usage behavior and customer response, electricity sales revenue, and study and adjust components in the two-component retail electricity price structure...

In phase 4, the Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to conduct an assessment and expansion, applying from August 2027, summarizing financial and technical efficiency and electricity usage behavior of customers.

According to the draft, EVN is responsible for developing, calculating and proposing two-component retail electricity prices to submit to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and implement according to the above roadmap.

Source: Ministry of Industry and Trade - Compiled by: NGOC AN - Graphics: TUAN ANH

Soon publish roadmap for consultation

With the above proposed roadmap, the application of the two-component electricity price list proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade is later than the plan proposed by EVN in November 2024. At that time, EVN wanted to apply the pilot first with some customer groups, then expand in 2025.

An EVN representative said that with the roadmap under construction, the application of component prices will be implemented first with non-residential customers.

On that basis, it will be expanded to different target groups, including household customers, to ensure that it is suitable for the actual situation and preparation of electricity customers. Accordingly, EVN will consult with all levels to have a suitable and feasible implementation roadmap.

According to Professor Ha Dang Duong, senior researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research, the two-component electricity price at the retail level is a payment mechanism in which customers are charged two different amounts: capacity and electricity consumption.

The power charge is calculated based on the maximum power (in kW) that a customer draws from the grid at any given time. This means that the customer is willing to pay a fee to rent the right to connect to electricity at a capacity limit appropriate to their needs.

The amount of electricity consumed, calculated based on the total amount of electricity used by the customer in a certain period of time, measured in kWh.

With the two-component pricing mechanism, the actual electricity bill that customers have to pay is like a mobile subscription "package". It includes a fixed monthly fee linked to the registered capacity and actual usage needs; along with the actual electricity usage cost based on the electricity consumption.

According to research, the two-component electricity price mechanism will fully reflect investment costs, help customers use electricity more efficiently and fairly, and contribute to reducing cross-subsidies between customer groups.

For example, a customer who subscribes to a 12 kW package will have to accept paying a higher rate than a 6 kW package, to ensure the correct actual cost the user generates for the electricity industry.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Tran Van Binh ( Hanoi University of Science and Technology), the Ministry of Industry and Trade's adjustment of the roadmap as above is more suitable than the previous proposal. This expert cited: there was a case of registering to use only 20 kW of electricity, serving domestic purposes, but then building an additional restaurant, installing many air conditioners, causing the voltage in the whole area to continuously jump.

With the current way of calculating electricity prices, this consumer does not have to pay extra for the increased capacity and the electricity industry has to bear it. However, they will have to pay more with the two-component electricity price regulation.

Mr. Binh said that it is necessary to propagate to consumers to understand what is capacity, what is electricity consumption, register appropriately, as well as have full management and supervision measures, avoid the case of "giving out what is known". In particular, in principle, the more capacity is used, the lower the electricity price must be.

"The roadmap given above is more modest. But how is the application of the two-component price mechanism? Because applying this price mechanism is a fundamental change to the electricity industry and electricity prices, it is necessary to clarify this issue, how to manage it, the metering system, how to manage the calculated capacity component, how to measure the electricity meter component to ensure supervision.

"The authorities must clarify this issue, inform and immediately announce the project from phase 1 so that people can understand and experts can give their opinions," Mr. Binh raised the issue.

How is it different from now?

In reality, retail electricity prices are currently applied according to a progressive ladder structure for household customers; price structure according to off-peak hours, peak hours, normal hours for production and business customers or according to voltage level for administrative and public service sectors.

However, if a two-component retail electricity price is applied, customers will pay a fixed cost for the monthly registered capacity, plus a cost calculated based on actual electricity consumption.

Electricity prices may increase by 2-5% in October to compensate for EVN's losses?

Employees of Phu Tho Electricity Company, Ho Chi Minh City maintain the medium voltage grid to ensure electricity supply for people's daily life - Photo: HUU HANH

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has just sent the Ministry of Justice a draft decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 72 of the Government regulating the mechanism and time for adjusting average retail electricity prices according to simplified procedures.

According to EVN's report, the accumulated loss for the two years 2022 - 2023 is about 50,029 billion VND. In 2024, although EVN makes a profit, the accumulated loss of the parent company (EVN) is about 44,792 billion USD.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that according to the provisions of the Law on Corporate Income Tax, in case of a loss, the loss transfer period must not exceed 5 consecutive years from the year the loss occurred. Therefore, EVN believes that the retail electricity price needs to be compensated promptly.

Therefore, in the draft amendment to Decree 72, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to add regulations related to other expenses not included in the electricity price, which are expenses that are allowed to be calculated but not fully calculated, and will be allocated to the annual retail electricity price.

Assessing the impacts of the decree amendment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that EVN's business situation is more positive this year, so it is expected that by the end of 2025, it will not affect the current average retail electricity price after calculating and updating the allocation of other expenses.

In case of allocation, the impact is considered small, possibly in the range of 2-5%, under the authority of EVN. It is expected that EVN will calculate that if the retail electricity price is adjusted in October 2025, the CPI will increase by about 0.03 percentage points.

According to NGOC AN/ tuoitre.vn

Source: https://baovinhlong.com.vn/kinh-te/202509/lo-trinh-ap-dung-gia-dien-hai-thanh-phan-e4a068b/