Soaring crude oil prices drove the benchmark market price of electricity to a record last month, and there is not much relief in sight.

In fact, the pain for consumers will likely go on for the next two quarters. That is because oil prices will continue to be high, and the six months from April to September tend to see higher power use nationwide.

The wholesale price is what power companies pay for electricity, plus a small amount of regulation and administrative costs and adjustments. It affects how much consumers end up paying.

Yesterday, the Energy Market Co, which runs the wholesale electricity market here, said that this price - known as the Uniform Singapore Energy Price - jumped 17.7 per cent from March to hit $173 per megawatt hour (MWh) last month.

That is the highest monthly average since 2003, when wholesale market trading began, and well up on the last high of $168.34 per MWh in August 2006. Last year, the average price was $124.57 per MWh.

The result is a corresponding spike in electricity prices consumers pay, though it is not a direct correlation.

In response to rising wholesale prices, Singapore Power Services (SPS), which supplies electricity to about 1.2 million households, has been steadily increasing electricity tariffs.

The so-called Low Tension Tariff, which is what the man-in-the-street pays, was 18.88 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) from April to June last year.

The rate jumped to 22.62 cents per kwh by the first quarter of this year. And a month ago, the rate - which is set by SPS every quarter - rose 5.7 per cent to 23.88 cents per kwh.

For people such retiree Loh T.E., this means higher electricity bills.

Mr Loh, who lives in a five-room flat without air-conditioning, said electricity costs now make up 12 per cent of his household expenses, compared with 8 per cent last year.

EMC chief executive David Carlson said yesterday that the main reason behind the higher bills is the rising price of crude oil, which hit close to US$124 (S$170) per barrel yesterday.

And fuel oil, which is priced in tandem with crude oil, forms the largest cost component for power generating companies.

'Fuel oil prices continued to rise coming into this year, so during the first quarter, fuel costs have had to be paid by (power) generators. That had an impact on what they can offer into the market,' said Mr Carlson.

'We expect to see higher demand (for power) in the second and third quarter.'

But he declined to predict if that would translate to higher electricity prices, saying that there were other factors at play.

First, demand is heavily influenced by economic growth. If the economy slows down, then prices should ease a little.

Second, Singapore's power market has been liberalised, and new power generation companies are free to enter the market and compete, bringing down prices.

Mr Carlson said greater competition has cushioned the impact of oil prices on electricity prices in the past three years and will continue doing so.

yanghw@sph.com.sg