Households to see average rise of about 21% in electricity bills from Oct
By S.Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 29 September 2008 1035 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Singaporeans will see an increase of 21 per cent in their electricity bills in the last quarter of this year.

The average electricity tariffs from October to December would go up by 5.38 cents per kilowatt per hour. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) said the increase is due to higher fuel oil prices.

For the last quarter of this year, oil prices were nearly S$155 per barrel, 38 per cent more than the third quarter.

So average monthly electricity bills look set to rise by S$5.70 to S$22.92 for those living in one- to five-room public housing flats.

For those living in the one- to three-room flats, this works out to an increase of between S$90 and S$223 in electricity bills for this year.

"I am jobless, so burden for me also," one individual said.

"Even though I don't pay the bill, my son does so I still feel the pinch for him," said another.

Seah Choon Seng, executive director, Consumers Association of Singapore, said: "The 20 per cent adjustment in tariff price is quite hefty for consumers to bear and I suppose one of those very high adjustments we see in many years. We feel that the companies involved in the utilities business should work harder in improving their efficiency to bring down the costs for consumers."

The EMA said the government's U-save rebates of S$310 to S$330 to help offset increases in utilities bills is more than enough to cover this year's electricity price increase for one-, two- and three-room HDB flats.

For four-room HDB households, the increase to the bill size for this year would be marginally higher than the U-save rebate given. These homes received S$295 in U-save rebates. But the total bill size for 2008 is estimated at S$316.

The EMA feels there is more room for Singaporeans to conserve and use less energy. That's because the EMA's surveys and findings show that nearly 40 per cent of Singapore homes are using more energy than they require to. And the air conditioner is one of the largest energy guzzlers in homes here.

Khoo Chin Hean, chief executive, EMA, said: "There is a lot of use which can be curtailed. There is probably quite a bit of wasteful usage. It is this kind of usage we can be more mindful of and take measures to manage our consumption."

The authority said if the forward fuel prices come down next month, the electricity tariff from January to March 2009 will be reduced accordingly. - CNA/vm