More in Singapore unable to pay electricity bills

35% of families with power bill woes stay in larger 4- or 5-room flats
Theresa Tan, Straits Times 29 Aug 08;

MORE families here are having trouble paying their electricity bills.

And in what social workers described as 'surprising', a significant number - about 35 per cent - are those who live in larger four- and five-room flats.

As of June this year, about 13,700 households have been put on a pre-paid metering scheme after they had their power supply cut off or were in danger of having the supply disconnected.

This is up from about 12,200 in December 2006, according to SP Services, the customer service arm of utility company Singapore Power.

The bulk of these families live in rental flats and smaller one- to three-room ones. But social workers say they are astonished that many families who cannot pay their bills live in larger flats.

Those interviewed say this is an indication of how rising prices and stagnant incomes are affecting more people.

MP Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) said: 'If you look at it, inflation has also affected not only the low-income group, but also the lower-middle class.'

The high numbers, they added, point to a Singapore phenomenon: Of being 'asset rich but cash poor'. With little savings, such households are affected by sudden changes, such as when the breadwinner loses his job, or the economy starts slowing down, as it is doing now.

Mr Shawn Koh, centre head of Pasir Ris Family Service Centre, said: 'Inflation and bad times do not discriminate according to flat types.'

Social worker Sophie Cheng added that some Singaporeans buy larger flats without thinking 'very hard' if they can afford them - a point also made by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan in February.

The pre-paid metering scheme, called Payu, for Pay As You Use, involves replacing conventional power meters with special ones that work only if an account has sufficient credit in it.

Users can top up amounts from $10 to $250 into their accounts. As electricity is used, the sum is drawn down and has to be topped up. Twenty per cent of what they top up goes into settling their outstanding balances with SP Services.

Madam Noorfarizan Abdul Rahim, 30, went on the scheme after failing to pay her bills for three months. Her family owes SP Services over $400, but with four children to feed on a single income of $850 a month, putting food on the table, not paying bills, gets top priority.

Madam Noorfarizan, whose husband is a cleaner and whose children are aged between eight months and 10 years old, said: 'The price of rice has gone up, the price of cooking oil has gone up and everything has gone up.'

To help a little go a long way as far as energy is concerned, she restricts activities like watching TV. Social workers say that other such families also resort to leaving their flats in darkness. Many throw doors and windows open to catch available light from common corridors.

Madam Noorfarizan topped up her Payu account with $10 a few days ago, but just $3 remains. She will head to the Post Office today to top up another $10 - good for 'two to three days of power'.

Help for some of these families, meanwhile, is on the way. Two Community Development Councils - North West and South West - have started a scheme that gives utility vouchers to help residents whose power supply has been cut off or is danger of being cut off.

Rising rates drive homes to reduce electricity usage
Poll finds many also cutting back because of recent cooler weather and awareness drive
Tessa Wong & He Zongying, Straits Times 29 Aug 08;

WARY of increasing electricity tariffs and recent reports of unusually high utility bills, Singapore residents have been consciously cutting down their power consumption.

Out of 100 households The Straits Times polled, 78 have tried to use less power in the past month.

Most did so because of the rising cost of electricity. Rates have inched up every quarter since April last year, from 18.88 cents per kilowatt-hour to 25.07 cents per kwh last month.

Aside from electricity becoming more expensive, people are cutting back also because they are now more aware of the need to save electricity as a result of the public education campaigns by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Singapore Power.

The recent cooler weather has also given people less reason to turn on their air-conditioners, one of the biggest guzzlers of electricity in the home.

Retiree Allan Ee, 85, now switches his on only for a few hours and uses a fan the rest of the night. He has also switched from a 50-inch television to a 21-inch one.

He said: 'My wife is also very helpful. She does not watch so many Chinese serials now.'

In some households, family members share rooms to cut down on the use of air-conditioners. Retired teacher Khoo Gim Si, for instance, shares a room with a tenant.

Other families, like drama coach Tony Quek's, religiously switch off their appliances that are not in use.

His family even turns off all lights in the living room from 8pm. 'The light from the television is enough,' said the 51-year-old, who lives in a four-room HDB flat with four other family members.

Some people are spending money to save money. Major electrical appliance retailers Harvey Norman and Best Denki have reported 20 per cent increases in the sales of energy-efficient appliances such as air-conditioners and refrigerators.

But an electricity usage tracking device called ETrack launched this month has not been selling well.

Do-it-yourself chain Home-Fix, the chief retailer of the device, said it has so far sold only 28 units of the gadget that costs $160.

Those who are using it say it has helped them become more aware of power consumption.

Technician Wong You Kin, 49, reckons he has saved about $50 in the past month using electric fans instead of air-conditioners.

He said: 'I get scared every time I see the numbers on the device jump.'

The electricity bill for his four-room HDB flat, usually at about $240, hit a high of $300 last month, which he put down to July's raised tariffs and the hot spell which led to the air-conditioner being turned on for longer hours.

With the ETrack in his home now, his latest bill has come down to $230.

'Everything is so expensive now, we just have to try to save as much as we can,' said Mr Wong, the father of two.

His household is one of 200 trying out the device under a six-month pilot project of NEA, which aims to raise consumers' awareness of the amount of electricity needed to power certain appliances.

Separately, the Energy Market Authority is also putting on trial smart meters in 1,000 households in November.

The NEA has also been running its '10% Energy Challenge' to get households to cut their energy bill by 10 per cent.

Besides putting up energy-saving tips and information on a website, it is holding a lucky draw for which a hybrid car and energy-efficient appliances are on the list of prizes.

Other grassroots bodies have also kick-started save-electricity drives among their residents. The North West and South West community development councils recently installed energy-saving bulbs in more than 5,000 low-income households.

Additional reporting by Daryl Tan