Due to decreased energy costs, household gas and electricity rates will drop from July to September after it remained unchanged in the previous quarter.
National grid operator SP Group said on Monday, June 30, that the electricity tariff will decrease by 2.3 per cent or 0.65 cent per kWh before Goods and Services Tax (GST), compared with the previous quarter.
The average monthly electricity bill for families residing in Housing and Development Board (HDB) four-room apartments will decrease by S$2.36 before GST, given the electricity tariff prior to GST of 27.47 cents per kWh.
Due to lower fuel costs, City Energy said the gas tariff before GST will also drop by 0.44 cents per kWh in the next quarter, from 22.72 cents per kWh to 22.28 cents per kWh.
Every quarter, SP Group, the company that owns and runs Singapore’s electrical grid, reviews the rates in accordance with standards established by the Energy Market Authority (EMA), which oversees the sector.
SP Group said, “The energy cost component of the electricity tariffs for each quarter is set using the average natural gas prices in the first two and a half months in the preceding quarter.”
“The electricity tariffs may fluctuate quarter to quarter due to volatile global fuel prices driven by geopolitical factors such as the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East,” the grid operator added.
Energy costs paid to power generation companies and network costs paid to SP Group to recoup the cost of moving electricity through the power grid are two of the four components that make up the electricity tariff.
Additionally, SP Group is paid a market support services fee to recover the costs of billing and meter reading, and the energy market company is paid a fee to recover the costs of running the power system and wholesale electricity market.
In accordance with EMA’s guidelines, City Energy also examines the gas tariffs on a quarterly basis.