Electricite du Laos (EDL) will increase the price of electricity for industrial usage in Laos to alleviate debts, but household use charges will stay the same.
KPL reports that the new prices will apply to establishments like embassies and international organization offices, educational businesses, entertainment businesses, public administration offices, agriculture, and the railway.
While announcing the news, EDL informed that it had to increase the rates for certain consumers to be at par with current exchange rates so that they can purchase electricity from foreign electricity producers.
The average price of electric power in Laos was 5.13 cents/kWh in 2022 which is quite a dip from the rate of 8 cents/kWh between the year 2012 to 2019 due to the depreciation of the local currency.
Domestic power usage in 2022 was estimated to be at about 10,000 million MW, with 25% for residential users at 2,647 million kilowatt-hours, and 75% for non-residential users at 7,924 million kilowatt-hours.
According to the EDL, industrial users consumed the most electricity at 30.7%, followed by mining digital asset businesses at 30.2%.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines has revealed that Laos is currently capable of generating more than 1 MW worth of power around the country.