SINGAPORE: Starting November, all 1.4 million electricity consumers in Singapore will have the option of choosing their preferred electricity price plans from as many as 12 providers.
With the nationwide rollout of the Open Electricity Market, consumers will no longer have to buy electricity from SP Group at a regulated tariff that is reviewed quarterly. This option, however, remains available to consumers if they do not wish to switch, said the Energy Market Authority (EMA) on Friday (Sep 21).
AdvertisementThe roll-out will be done in stages, beginning Nov 1 with households and business accounts that have postal codes starting with the numbers 58-78. This includes districts in Choa Chu Kang, Yishun, Sembawang and Upper Bukit Timah.
This will be followed by the adjacent geographical zone that have postal codes starting with 53-57, 79-80, 82-83 next January, 34-52 and 81 from March, and lastly, the zone with postal codes starting with 01-33 from May.
Prior to the roll-out, consumers will receive a notification package and information booklet. Consumers can also compare the price plans by visiting Price Comparison Website.
The zonal rollout will allow the EMA and electricity providers to focus their efforts on engaging and educating consumers, and help them understand their options before making a decision, said the EMA.
AdvertisementAdvertisementA “good mix” of independent retailers and those with power-generation assets will be involved in the nationwide launch, said the EMA. They include Geneco, Keppel Electric, Sembcorp Power, and independent retailers like ISwitch and Ohm Energy.
Currently, only consumers in Jurong – comprising 108,000 households and 9,500 businesses – can choose their electricity price plan from more than 10 retailers under a pilot programme launched on Apr 1.
[h=3]READ: Sizzling competition, ‘encouraging’ sign-ups as electricity market opens up in Jurong[/h][h=3]READ: Open electricity market to be extended to rest of Singapore from Q4 2018[/h]More than 30 per cent of Jurong consumers have since switched to a retailer, instead of remaining on the regulated tariff with SP Group – a result that EMA chief executive Ngiam Shih Chun described as “well-received” and “successful”.
“Jurong residents benefitted from more choices and flexibility. Those who switched paid an electricity rate which was on average about 20 per cent lower than the regulated tariff,” said Mr Ngiam.
Based on feedback gathered from the Jurong launch, EMA will simplify choices offered by retailers to two standard price plans – a fixed price plan and a discount off the regulated tariff plan. The peak and off-peak plans will be removed due to a low take-up rate of less than 1 per cent among Jurong consumers, EMA said.
The EMA has progressively opened up the electricity market to competition since 2011, starting with larger businesses with higher electricity consumption, and is now in its final phase to open up the local power market fully to competition.
While the freedom to pick customised price plans is similar to how one would pick a mobile telco, the Open Electricity Market differs in that the national power grid will remain operated by the SP Group to ensure supply reliability, EMA said.
Even if a retailer exits the market, there will be no disruption to customers’ electricity supply as they will continue to receive electricity through the national power grid, EMA said.
Four retailers that participated in the launch have opted out of the nationwide launch, citing reasons like re-assessing their business plans or developing certain products or platforms. They are Diamond Electric, Red Dot Power, Sun Electric and Sunseap.
These retailers are required to inform the 500 Jurong consumers affected and to honour the contracts until the end.
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