Sylvia Lim on cost of living crisis

More can be done to encourage the conservation of electricity and reduce electricity costs for consumers, said MP Sylvia Lim in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 7). She reiterated a previous call to the Government to consider implementing a tiered pricing structure for household consumers. Those that use electricity below a certain threshold would be charged a lower rate while those using more would pay a higher rate. Ms Lim said this did not mean the Government would be deciding what an acceptable level of electricity consumption is. Rather, it would be encouraging energy conservation "by charging a lower rate for what is deemed a basic necessity". Ms Lim gave examples of the system and its benefits in other countries. She also proposed a pricing structure based on time of use, to discourage power consumption at peak hours - something that is already available to business consumers in Singapore. Ms Lim said this is an issue that deserves attention amid concerns about global energy supply and costs. She pointed out that it had been a key plank of the Government’s strategy to bank on the Open Electricity Market to manage power prices for consumers, but this did not work out. Meanwhile U-Save vouchers, while useful, are effectively taxpayer subsidies for certain types of households, she said.