From April 22, 2026, Decision 963/QD-BCT will begin applying a new timeframe for hourly electricity pricing (TOU – Time of Use), while Circular 60/2025/TT-BCT, effective from December 2, 2025, stipulates how to apply electricity tariffs to each customer group.
This does not mean a uniform increase in electricity prices. However, for manufacturing businesses that consume a lot of electricity, especially those operating heavily in the evenings or running continuously 24/7, electricity costs could change significantly if operating plans are not adjusted.
1. How have peak hours changed?
According to Decision 963/QD-BCT, peak hours have been adjusted to focus more heavily on the evening – the time when electricity demand is high but solar power generation is low. Specifically:
| Time slot type | Monday to Saturday | Sunday | ||
| Old | New | Old | Fat | |
| Off-peak hours | 0h-04h, 22h-24h | 00:00 – 06:00 | 0h-04h, 22h-24h | 00:00 – 06:00 |
| Normal hours | 4:00 AM - 9:30 AM, 11:30 AM - 5:00 PM, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM | 06:00 – 17:30 and 22:30 – 24:00 | 4 AM - 10 PM | 06:00 – 24:00 |
| Rush hour | 9:30-11:30, 17:00-20:00 | 5:30 PM – 10:30 PM (5 hours) | No rush hour | No rush hour |
The goal is to balance the national power grid load and optimize power generation operation.
2. Scope of Application
- The following entities are required to apply the time-of-day electricity pricing system:
- Electricity buyers using electricity for production and business purposes are supplied with electricity through dedicated transformers of 25 kVA or more, or have an average electricity consumption of 2,000 kWh/month or more for three consecutive months;
- Electricity retailers in industrial parks and clusters;
- Electricity buyers purchase electricity for retail sale outside of residential use in commercial-service-residential complexes (factories operating 2-3 shifts, cold storage, logistics, shopping malls, etc.).
- Less affected groups: Households, Small businesses, Small offices
3. What are the actual impacts?
While average electricity prices have decreased during business hours, they have increased at night, directly impacting factories and businesses that operate 24 hours a day.
For example, a food processing machine operates 24 hours a day:
– Power consumption: 5,000 kWh/day
=> 150,000 kWh/month, Approximately 400 million VND/month in electricity bills.
| Before the change: – Peak consumption: 1,800 kWh/day – Normal consumption: 2,000 kWh/day – Off-peak: 1,200 kWh/day → Cost: ~391.8 million/month | After the change: – Peak consumption: 2,200 kWh/day – Normal consumption: 1,800 kWh/day – Off-peak: 1,000 kWh/day → Cost: ~413.4 million/month |
Difference: +21.6 million/month → Nearly 260 million/year
4. What can businesses do?
- Shifting maximum load: Move the most energy-intensive processes to the 0h-6h timeframe. Make the most of Sundays for urgent orders or mass production.
- Upgrade to high-performance equipment while implementing comprehensive energy-saving measures.
- Install solar panels, integrating storage for daytime use and generating power at night during peak hours.
