Electricity tariffs up by 6.3% in next three months

Households will pay more for electricity in the new year, with tariffs rising by an average of 6.3 per cent.

Power will cost 21.56 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) in the first quarter of next year, up from 20.30 cents in the last three months of this year.

The increase is due to the higher cost of natural gas for electricity generation, which rose 14 per cent compared with the previous quarter, SP Group said in a statement yesterday.

The tariff is largely determined by energy costs, which are incurred by power generation and fuel. These costs make up 73.5 per cent of the new tariff.

Network costs, a market support services fee and a market administration and power system operation fee are also components of the tariff. These are reviewed annually.

The new tariff increase means the average monthly electricity bill for families living in four-room HDB flats will go up by $4.78. This is based on the average usage of such households of about 380kwh a month.

Tariffs will rise by about $5.64 a month across the board, according to SP.

Families in one-room flats can expect to pay $1.74 more a month on average while those in bungalows may have to shell out an extra $31.49.

SP reviews its tariffs quarterly based on guidelines set by the Energy Market Authority, the electricity industry regulator.

These guidelines include pegging the cost of fuel to the average natural gas price in the previous three months.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 30, 2017, with the headline Electricity tariffs up by 6.3% in next three months. Subscribe