Why is there a two-component electricity price if you use 200,000 kWh/month or more?

The application and implementation of the electricity pricing system must ensure the readiness of electricity infrastructure such as metering and data transmission.

Electricity staff measure electricity meters - infrastructure system is a requirement to implement two-component pricing - Photo: C.DUNG

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien has requested to fully prepare the necessary conditions so that from January 1, 2026, the two-component electricity price mechanism (capacity price and electricity price) will be implemented, initially applied to large electricity users and no cases will be excluded.

Why can't two-component electricity price be implemented yet?

To implement, Mr. Dien requested relevant functional units to complete the project to submit to competent authorities, evaluate the impact report and provide full information to report to the Government .

At the same time, from now until December 31, two invoices will run in parallel, one according to the current mechanism for actual payment, one according to the two-component mechanism for customers to refer to and self-adjust.

Practical experience shows that the two-component electricity price list has been applied in many countries around the world , but in Vietnam it has just begun to be implemented.

The reason is that our electricity infrastructure is not yet complete enough to implement because it requires a meter to measure two components. On the other hand, there are no specific research proposals and experimental applications for this price list because the calculation will be complicated, requiring a complete and consistent data system.

According to Tuoi Tre Online , Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) has basically completed the project to build a roadmap to apply two-component electricity prices for customer groups, expected to be submitted to all levels on September 15.

EVN proposed a two-component electricity price list that will first be applied to non-domestic customers with large electricity consumption.

In fact, the selection of large electricity users as subjects for the pilot application of two-component electricity prices has been proposed in the construction project since 2024.

These are customers under Decree 80 implementing the direct electricity purchase and sale mechanism between renewable energy generators and large electricity users (DPPA), with an average electricity consumption of 200,000 kWh/month, connected at voltage level 22kV or higher.

According to the project, applying two-component electricity prices including capacity price and electricity price will benefit both customers and ensure recovery of investment costs of the electricity industry.

Therefore, the two-component electricity price mechanism is considered a measure to manage natural load demand, continuously improve the ability to use fixed assets to reduce production costs and improve the overall efficiency of society.

Need for metering and data transmission system readiness

The two-component electricity price aims to accurately calculate the full cost that electricity consumers cause to the system. However, to apply this pricing mechanism, it is required that the system can measure two components: electricity (kWh) and power (P _max /I _max ).

Thus, the application and implementation of the price system must ensure the readiness of electricity infrastructure such as meters and data transmission.

Therefore, data from the 2024 project shows that the total number of normal production households according to Decree 80, which meets the calculation standards, is about 6,000 households, most of which are at the medium and high voltage levels, accounting for up to 70% of direct retail output.

Choosing this object is considered suitable for marginal cost calculation, when the seller is EVN will calculate the full cost and the buyer is the final consumer without any intermediary.

At the same time, the customer group under Decree 80 of the Government was selected as appropriate and necessary when the DPPA mechanism was put into effect. This customer group buys electricity directly from renewable power plants, while the remaining electricity output will have to buy electricity from EVN.

This will cause large supply costs for EVN, affecting the corporation's revenue, as it must ensure electricity supply is ready, but the amount of electricity sold to customers is reduced.

In addition, power corporations have now deployed the application of electronic meters capable of measuring capacity and electricity for most customers using electricity for production and business purposes (customers subject to time-of-use electricity prices during the day - TOU).

As of 2019, more than 523,000 TOU meters have been installed nationwide for all eligible customers as the basis for implementing the new tariff.

Meanwhile, for households, international experience shows that the step-by-step electricity price list with prices increasing according to the progressive consumption level is still very popular.

Also because the basic characteristics of household consumption are very large in number but small in output. Therefore, if implementing two-component electricity price with capacity and electricity metering equipment will be quite costly and will not ensure enough conditions for immediate implementation but need a suitable roadmap.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vi-sao-ap-gia-dien-hai-thanh-phan-neu-dung-tu-200-000-kwh-thang-20250910104355668.htm