At a recent conference held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, power shortage once again was the hottest item of discussion.
The average electricity usage per person in Vietnam in 2007 was only 785 kW, standing seventh among eleven Southeast Asia nations, 40th out of 49 Asian countries and 134th out of 192 countries and territories in the world.
The domestic consumption figure does not even approach one third of the world’s average per capita electricity allowance, which was 2,516 kW in 2003.
Not many Vietnamese sectors face the problem of demand always overwhelming supply.
But the electricity sector has not a single competitor and this will be the case for years to come.
If EVN could reduce the amount of electricity lost due to thefts and problems with power lines, then we would not suffer so much from constant power shortages.
In addition, is there any other sector that has requested permission to increase prices to accrue funds to invest in other sectors? Members of the National Assembly were certainly justified in expressing their frustration that EVN is a state-owned corporation that has strayed far from its core business.
At a conference five days ago, Huynh Van Thach, deputy chief of EVN’s Planning Department, said EVN only provides 60 percent of the country’s electricity and still depends on outside sources.
EVN recently gathered its 12 member companies to address the problem of cutting power without notifying residents beforehand, and firmly expressed that it is not at fault on this issue.
But Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has said no matter what the excuses are, EVN should take the blame.
“Its job is to provide electricity,” the deputy prime minister said.
“It isn’t enough to just apologize and make the lives of residents and businesses so miserable.”
By Dao Ngoc Lam |
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