Electricity tariffs to go up by 2.1 per cent in last quarter of 2018

ASYRAF KAMIL Today Online 29 Sep 18;

SINGAPORE — Electricity tariffs are set to rise for the fourth consecutive quarter this year, with the average household living in a four-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat expected to pay about S$1.76 more for electricity from October to December.

In a press release on Saturday (Sept 29), utility provider SP Group said that electricity tariffs for the next three months will go up by an average of 2.1 per cent on the back of “higher cost of natural gas for electricity generation”.

For the period from Oct 1 to Dec 31, SP Group will be charging 0.48 cents more per kilowatt hour (kWh), bringing up the tariffs to 24.13 cents per kWh.

On average, households in one-room HDB flats will likely pay 0.64 cents more a month, while those in a terrace house could pay S$4.25 more. Their average monthly bills in the next quarter are estimated be about S$32 and S$214 respectively.

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SP Group said that it reviews the electricity tariffs quarterly based on guidelines set by the Energy Market Authority (EMA), the electricity industry regulator.

Earlier this month, the EMA announced that consumers will be able to choose their electricity supplier starting from Nov 1, when the open electricity market is expanded to cater to them zone by zone around the island.

By May 2019, when the full roll-out is completed, 1.4 million households and small businesses will have the option of buying electricity from 12 different retailers.

Instead of being restricted to buying electricity from SP Group at a regulated tariff as they do now, consumers may choose a price plan that meets their needs from the authorised dealers within the open market. SP Group will continue to operate the national power grid and deliver electricity islandwide.