National utility Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has agreed with a proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to review retail electricity prices every three months to decide whether to make any adjustments.
If production costs increase by 3-5%, EVN is allowed to raise retail prices accordingly, but it needs to wait at least three months from the last adjustment, according to a draft decision that is being reviewed by government bodies.
If costs rise by 5-10% the raise must be approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and higher hikes must be decided by the Prime Minister.
EVN suggested that the cost of electricity transmission includes system management costs after authorities proposed that the National Load Dispatch Center be moved from EVN to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Vietnam in May raised its retail electricity prices by 3% for the first time in four years.
Analysts said earlier that retail prices were unchanged for a long time and therefore were not updated with changes in production costs.