Vietnam has called on businesses and households to step up energy conservation as electricity consumption surged to its highest level this year amid scorching temperatures, with a new heatwave forecast for late May threatening further strain on the power grid, Reuters reported.

The country's power consumption reached 1.1 TWh on May 13, a year-to-date peak, state utility EVN said. Coal-fired plants accounted for 53.4% of output during peak hours, while hydropower contributed 26%.

The government warned on the next day that a fresh heatwave is expected to hit the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub in the last week of May, putting further pressure on the power grid.

Vietnamese businesses and households have suffered blackouts during heatwaves in previous years.

EVN is now seeking approval from the Ministry of Industry and Trade to raise its retail electricity price to absorb accumulated losses, which stood at 5.6 trillion dong ($212.4 million) at end-2025, local media reported on May 15.

Additionally, in the Philippines, authorities on May 14 also warned of power cuts of up to seven hours across the country's two main grids because of extreme heat and power plant outages.