SINGAPORE - Households will pay more for gas starting next month, with gas tariffs set to increase by 3.78 per cent, or 0.7 cent per kilowatt hour (kwh), City Gas said on Thursday (July 26).

This will be the third time this year that gas tariffs for homes have risen, and it comes on the back of electricity and water price hikes in recent months.

From Aug 1 to Oct 31, users will have to pay 19.23 cents per kwh for household gas, up from the existing tariff of 18.53 cents per kwh. The revised tariff will add up to 20.58 cents per kwh after goods and services tax.

In its statement, City Gas attributed the change to higher fuel costs as compared with the previous quarter.

Gas tariffs from May 1 to July 31 were 18.53 cents per kwh, and were revised upwards from 18.42 cents per kwh in the first quarter of the year.

City Gas said it reviews gas tariffs based on guidelines set by the Energy Market Authority, the gas industry regulator.

Last year, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced that water prices will be increased for the first time in 17 years.

The first phase of the hike kicked in last July, with the second phase from July 1 this year.

Mr Heng said water prices had to be updated to reflect the latest costs of water supply, though lower- and middle-income households will get help to manage the increase.

In the third quarter from July 1 to Sept 30, electricity tariffs will rise an average of 6.9 per cent. For households, the tariff increases from 22.15 cents to 23.65 cents per kwh.

The average monthly bill for a family living in a four-room Housing Board flat is expected to go up by $5.61.

Energy utilities provider SP Group has previously said that the increase was mainly due to the higher cost of natural gas for electricity generation.