In the Draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Electricity Law being appraised by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (the drafting agency) said that currently, retail electricity prices for residential customers are being applied according to gradually increasing retail electricity prices.
The application of this price mechanism is suitable for developing countries such as Vietnam, the load growth rate is always high (below 10%/year) and has high energy intensity, has the effect of encouraging economical and efficient electricity use, and on the other hand, it also ensures social security as one of the tools to support low-income electricity users to consume electricity to meet their needs at a necessary level suitable to their ability to pay.
Currently, according to the load chart of the electricity system, household load accounts for the second largest proportion after industrial load in total electricity consumption nationwide and it is difficult to adjust electricity use behavior.
However, in the upcoming period, when electricity demand is increasing and supply development is facing many difficulties, it is necessary to study measures to make household customers save electricity more effectively, one of which is to study applying pricing according to the electricity usage time in a day (TOU pricing). The TOU pricing for household customers is only applied to eligible customers, not applied to all household customers.
According to the Draft, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes to supplement regulations on the application of retail electricity prices during peak hours, off-peak hours and normal hours for residential customers when technical conditions permit in point b, clause 1, Article 50. At the same time, supplement the development of regulations on the roadmap for applying prices according to usage time in a day for residential customers in point c, clause 3, Article 50 to have a basis for researching and applying prices according to usage time in a day to this group of customers.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade also proposed to supplement a transitional clause stipulating that the retail electricity price structure for tourist accommodation establishments will continue to be implemented according to the provisions of law promulgated before the effective date of this Law until there are other regulations amending, supplementing or replacing in accordance with the roadmap for eliminating cross-subsidy.
Previously, on April 22, 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision 963 regulating peak hours, off-peak hours and normal hours of the national power system. Accordingly, peak hours apply: Days from Monday to Saturday from 5:30 PM to 10:30 PM (5 hours/day); Sundays have no peak hours.
Normal hours are applied: Days from Monday to Saturday: from 6:00 AM to 5:30 PM and from 10:30 PM to 12:00 PM (1 day at 1:00 PM); Sunday: from 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM (1 day at 6:00 PM).
Applicable off-peak hours: from 00:00 to 06:00 all days of the week (6 hours/day).
According to Decision No. 1279 dated May 9, 2025 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, retail electricity prices according to peak hours, off-peak hours and normal hours are applied to customers who are manufacturing and business industries. Electricity prices for each time frame also depend on each voltage level.
Analysis of electricity selling prices issued with Decision No. 1279 dated May 9, 2025 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade shows a very large difference between peak and off-peak hours, especially for manufacturing and trading enterprises with large electricity demand in the evening.
In the group of business customers using voltage from 22kV and above, the electricity price at peak hours is 1,609 VND/kWh, while at peak hours it is up to 5,0025 VND/kWh, which is about 3.12 times higher.
Similarly, for customers using voltage from 6kV to under 22kV, the peak hour electricity price is 5,202 VND/kWh, about 2.84 times higher than the 1,829 VND/kWh level of the low hour.
Notably, the group of business customers using voltage below 6kV - mainly small businesses, stores, and service establishments - are experiencing the highest peak hour price, up to 5,422 VND/kWh. This level is about 2.83 times higher than the low hour price of 1,918 VND/kWh.
