Open Electricity Market And Its Benefits
1 November 2018 marks the opening of Singapore’s electricity market to various retailers. Prior to this, consumers in Singapore are only allowed to buy electricity from SP Group, which charges a regulated tariff based on their electricity consumption every month.
Consumers in Jurong were among the very first to benefit from the open electricity market. It was subsequently rolled out batch by batch in other areas on 1 November 2018 and 1 January 2019. The last two batches will be launched on 1 March and 1 May 2019 respectively. Over 1.4 million households and business owners are expected to benefit from the open electricity market, with the flexibility to choose a retailer and price plan that best suits their consumption patterns and needs. There are a total of 13 retailers, including among others, ES Power by Environmental Solutions (Asia) Pte Ltd, Keppel Electric Pte Ltd, Sembcorp Power Pte Ltd, Senoko Energy Supply Pte Ltd and Union Power Pte Ltd. You may sign up for economics tuition with a reputable economics tutor to understand more about the benefits of open electricity market. A good economics tutor will be able to apply economics concepts in solving real life problems like this.
How To Make The Right Switch
There are two types of standard price plans, Fixed Price Plans and Discount Off the Regulated Tariff Plans. Fixed Price Plans offer consumers certainty over their electricity bills despite the fluctuations in regulated tariff during the contract period. In contrast, Discount Off the Regulated Tariff Plans offer a fixed discount off the regulated tariff. Discuss with your economics tutor in economics tuition the advantages and disadvantages of these two plans. Mr Edmund Quek, Principal Economics Tutor of Economics Cafe Learning Centre, a premier economics tuition centre in Bishan has shared with his students a useful case study on this. You may sign up for his economics tuition or visit his website at www.economicscafe.com.sg to find out more about his economics tuition. Over the past 20 years, thousands of students have benefited from the economics tuition class of this well-sought after economics tutor.
Consumers are advised to compare the price plans offered by different retailers and look out for these contract terms before making their decision: Contract Duration, Payment Terms, Security Deposit, Early Termination Charges and Auto-renewal clauses. The comparison is made easy with the online comparison tool. All you have to do is to key in your consumer type, housing type and average monthly consumption, select both Fixed Price Plan and Discount Off the Regulated Tariff Plan for consideration, then click NEXT. You will see a list of price plans ranked by size of your estimated monthly bill (from the lowest to the highest).
Benefits Of Open Electricity Market
Competition helps to bring down the price and results in cost savings by consumers. SP Group reviews the electricity tariffs quarterly based on guidelines set by Energy Market Authority (EMA), the electricity industry regulator. For the quarter from 1 January to 31 March 2019, the electricity tariff (before 7 per cent GST) is 23.85 cents per kWh. In comparison, other retailers offer a much lower fixed price from 17.66 cents to 23.01 cents, or 14.5 per cent to 25 per cent discount off regulated tariff. For a household living in a 4-room flat, if their average monthly electricity consumption is 450 KWh, their estimated monthly bill size can be as low as $79.47 after the switch, as compared with $114.84 if they stay with SP Group. Economics tutor Mr Edmund Quek has done his calculation and made the smart switch.
Besides, you can switch from the cumulative meter to advanced meter. The latter allows electricity consumption to be measured at 30 minutes intervals. Consumers can view and download their electricity usage by signing up for an e-service account. With this, you are able to monitor your electricity consumption more closely and cut down on consumption more consciously. It also enables early detection of any possible electrical problems/leakage.
In conclusion, we welcome the open electricity market and look forward to benefiting from this.
Linda Geng
Economics Tuition Singapore @ Economics Cafe
Principal Economics Tutor: Mr. Edmund Quek