Search
IDCNOVA

Vietnam's CMC, Viettel Petition Ministries Over Data Center Power Pricing After Cutoff Threat

By: IDCNOVARegion: Southeast Asia
Two of Vietnam's largest data center operators, CMC and Viettel, have formally petitioned government ministries to resolve a dispute over electricity pricing that brought their Ho Chi Minh City facilities to the brink of a power cut-off, underscoring the mounting tension between the country's digital infrastructure ambitions and its energy regulatory framework.

The dispute centers on EVN HCMC, the Ho Chi Minh City unit of state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN), reclassifying the data center operators under "business" pricing — the highest tier in Vietnam's multi-category electricity tariff system, which also includes rates for "household," "manufacturing," and "public sector" users. Electricity represents the single largest operating cost for data centers, accounting for roughly half of total expenses, making the classification change a critical financial issue for operators.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Science and Technology sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the reclassification raised the data centers' electricity bills by more than 50 percent. EVN HCMC subsequently set September 15 as the date to disconnect both operators over unpaid amounts tied to the higher rate, though the cut-off did not proceed.

In documents filed on September 11 and September 15, CMC and Viettel asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Science and Technology to clarify the pricing classification. The operators argued that their power consumption runs only technical systems — including servers, storage, data processing, and cooling — and should therefore qualify for the lower "manufacturing" rate. EVN HCMC, for its part, said it had received conflicting instructions on pricing and asked the ministry to provide clarity.

CMC and Viettel are not alone in challenging the classification. Earlier in 2026, a group of operators including VNPT, FPT Telecom, and VNG Data Center made similar appeals, signaling a broader industry concern over how Vietnam's power pricing framework applies to data center operations.

The stakes are considerable given the scale of the operators' infrastructure investments. CMC's facility in Ho Chi Minh City's Saigon Hi-Tech Park is part of a hyperscale program approved in 2025, with a first phase costing $250 million and total planned investment approaching $1 billion under a memorandum with South Korea's Samsung C&T. Viettel operates approximately 230,000 servers and 87 MW of capacity across several cities and is building a campus in Ho Chi Minh City designed for up to 140 MW, targeting 24 data centers and 560 MW by 2030.

The pricing dispute highlights a critical challenge for Vietnam as it seeks to position itself as Southeast Asia's next major data center hub amid a regional capacity shift. Without a clear and stable electricity pricing framework for data centers, operators face uncertainty that could deter further investment in a market that requires massive, long-term capital commitments. The outcome of these petitions will likely set a precedent for how Vietnam's growing data center industry is treated under the national energy tariff system, with implications for the country's competitiveness against established markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.