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The Fat Rabbit · Joined: 19 Jan 2010 Posts: 61 Location: Vietnam

I'm sure many of you are aware of the recent increase in power cuts. They're more frequent and last longer than ever. There are lots of news articles on the net about the current power shortage in case you're not aware.

From what I've heard, the cuts are planned in advance and there is a schedule. Does anyone know where this schedule can be found? Can it be found on the internet, or is it only in the newspapers? Does anyone know which Vietnamese newspapers report this info? I can read Vietnamese but there are quite a lot of different Vietnamese newspapers to choose from, so I'm not sure which one to get.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

jb0072009 · Joined: 26 Feb 2009 Posts: 127 Location: Saigon

Yea I would like to know that too. Today in district 4 the power was out for 11 hours! Last Sunday it was out for 6 hours. This is getting bad. Last year at this time none of this crap but then they had normal rainfall. see
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/reports/201005/Power-cut-unexpectedly-HCM-City-residents-express-outrage-912975/ for more

The Fat Rabbit · Joined: 19 Jan 2010 Posts: 61 Location: Vietnam

Well i search the net and found a few websites with schedules. however, none of them were updated or useful. It looks like the electric company makes a schedule every 2 days. I think it's posted in some newspaper, but I don't know which one yet. Can't seem to find it...

jb0072009 · Joined: 26 Feb 2009 Posts: 127 Location: Saigon

Yes the EVN site http://www.mayphatdienhonda.com/tin-tuc-su-kien/lich-cup-dien/46-lich-cup-dien-tphcm.html has a schedule. Just click on the HCM or wherever you live. Its in Viet but easy to figure it out

eclectic · Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 1122

y the increase? i thought VN was on the up and up.

snollygoster · Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 478

Y the increase in power cuts?
Hydro-no significant rainfall-smaller water flow-no electricity generation.

shanewarne · Joined: 21 Feb 2008 Posts: 146

I've had 3 powercuts in the past 24 hours. Its taking the p1ss man.

CThomas · Joined: 21 Oct 2009 Posts: 380 Location: HCMC, Vietnam

Vietnam is indeed progressing, but this is reality for now. We have a generator as big as a mobile-home where I work (big IT company). The maintenance guy for it said, yea, it's about rainfall and the hydro-electric dams. And, yes, it's better now than before, from what I understand.

londo · Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 107 Location: District 7

We also now have one of these 'fairground' generators, problem is, we get the juice but get suffocated by fumes instead...ho hum. Yes it's getting to be a big problem, especially for businesses and the public are becoming increasingly p**sed off. We have NO power cuts where I live though....never have, maybe has something to do with the number of red and blue number plates that live here... Wink

Sef · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 74 Location: UK

My students told me that, apart from the lack of rain, Vietnam's development is a cause of the power shortage. More people are buying air con units and there isn't enough power to run them.

Oh My God · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 273

I don't know much about other parts of the country BUT in Saigon (HCMC) it's just a way of life. There's always been these situations here, as far back as I can remember. Most schools will even have power outage contingencies written into your contracts which tells you how common place this problem is.
And every year we see articles in the newspapers like this one:

http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20100605160253.aspx

The "rule of thumb" seems to be if the power is cut-off between 7 - 9am - it's going to be off all day or until around 6 - 7pm. If it goes out any other time of day or night, it should be back on within a couple of hours unless it's a blackout in which case - who knows?

Through the years, I've just adopted an attitude of apathy towards this situation and made it a good excuse to go have a few beers.

csleeper · Joined: 30 Jun 2010 Posts: 12

Where I lived in Vung Tau, a car would drive through the streets with a loudspeaker advising people as to when the power would be off, although that was still highly unreliable.

My advice to those with the means is to get an apartment with a generator. The few extra dollars was WELL worth it.

vietexpat2008 · Joined: 08 May 2010 Posts: 18

Oh My God:

Yes, if it goes out early in the morning, it is almost always out all day. My are has been going off on Tuesday and Saturday like clockwork, but I just had power on both those days, so I think my area's rationing is over.

It looks like there's been enough rain for the rationing to stop, but we'll get it again next year unless the government jumps on this problem in a serious way. Unless the world economy totally crashes, power demand is only going to go up.

sigmoid · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276

Electricity is a bourgeoisie luxury. You guys need to toughen up and get with the program. Laughing

Anyway here's more info from Thanh Nien
http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20100712144716.aspx

Col. Saoud · Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 8

Just seems that the areas of the city where one would expect all the Snowballs and Napoleons to live have more entitlement to the bourgeois luxury of electricity than those occupied by the Boxers and Jessies.They will probably start to ration cream and apples next.