A new initiative to help users reduce their electricity usage through comparison of consumption patterns was announced by SP Services and the Energy Market Authority (EMA) on Tuesday.

The pilot programme enables participating consumers to compare their electricity consumption against the average consumption of residents living in the same block and against the national average consumption.

For instance, a household living in a four-room Housing Board flat which registered 430kWh of electricity consumption in January, can be compared to the national average consumption of four-room flats of 389kWh, or the 324kWh average consumption of residents living in four-room flats within the same block. Managing director of SP Services Jeanne Cheng said: "We hope to raise customers' awareness of their consumption pattern and encourage better energy-saving habits."

Some 260,000 existing users of SP Services' My Utilities Portal - all of whom have e-billing accounts - will be involved in the initiative. But this number may increase when more sign up for the e-billing service, SP Services and the EMA said in a joint statement.