Close to half of all residential consumers have switched to buying electricity from a retailer since the electricity market in Singapore was fully liberalised two years ago, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) said yesterday.
Currently, about 49 per cent of all residential consumers buy electricity from a retailer, with 43 per cent on fixed price plans and 5 per cent on discount-off-tariff plans.
Under a fixed price plan, consumers pay a constant rate throughout the contract duration - for example, 20 cents per kilowatt-hour.
With a discount-off-tariff plan, consumers enjoy a fixed discount off the prevailing regulated tariff throughout the contract duration.
The Open Electricity Market (OEM), which gives consumers a choice of electricity provider, was progressively rolled out nationwide from November 2018 to May 2019.
Previously, SP Group was the only supplier of electricity to households in Singapore.
Of the 12 retailers here, Keppel Electric currently has the biggest share with about 22 per cent of the residential market, followed by Geneco at about 20 per cent, and Tuas Power at about 15 per cent.
The EMA also released findings from its latest consumer satisfaction survey.
It showed that consumers are becoming more discerning in choosing their next electricity plan and are actively searching for better ones instead of automatically renewing their existing price plans.
The survey, which involved more than 2,500 households, showed that only 28 per cent automatically renewed with their current retailer, down from 49 per cent who indicated they did so in the previous survey report in October.
Nine in 10 households also compared price plans across different retailers before making a switch. Of those who renewed with their retailer, only six in 10 compared price plans.
EMA chief executive Ngiam Shih Chun said: "We encourage consumers to compare retailers' price plans and their ratings when signing up or renewing their contract to find an offer that best suits their needs."
He added that consumers can go online to compare the standard price plans offered by retailers.
Of the 90 per cent who compared price plans across different retailers before making a switch, 73 per cent used price comparison websites as the main mode of comparing offers from different retailers.
About 96 per cent of the respondents surveyed also found it easy to switch retailers or renew plans with their retailer.
Businessman Anthony Tan, who switched over from Keppel Electric to Senoko Energy in March, found the process convenient.
The switch will see him saving at least $2 a month, but he will enjoy an additional rebate of $50 owing to promotional offers.
The 60-year-old, who learnt about Senoko Energy's price plans through advertisements, said: "The difference per month may not seem like much but over a two-year contract, the difference does add up to quite a bit."
Findings also revealed that more retailers received a high approval rating from consumers, based on a rating system, with five stars being the highest level of satisfaction.
Six retailers saw a rating of 4.5 stars and above, an increase from four retailers a year ago.
Of the 12 here, only one retailer, Sunseap Energy, received a rating of five stars.
EMA said these ratings can be found on the OEM website and will be updated every six months.
