Households urged to save electricity as costs rise
Households here are advised to conserve electricity as costs are set to rise following the doubling of fuel prices, said Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong on Tuesday.
In a written parliamentary response that day, Mr Gan said fuel prices have more than doubled over the past 1½ years, impacting countries worldwide including China, Japan, Britain and countries in the European Union.
Price movements in the global energy market will affect Singapore, which imports nearly 100 per cent of its energy needs, he said.
The minister was responding to questions by Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok) on the rising price of natural gas, which is expected to cause a steep spike in electricity prices in Singapore in the next quarter, and efforts to cushion the impact.
Mr Pillai also asked how the Government plans to protect Singaporean households affected by the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic while also encouraging them to be more energy efficient.
UP 3.1 PER CENT
National grid operator SP Group announced on Sept 30 that the electricity tariff for households will increase by 3.1 per cent from this month to December.
This is the highest it has been priced since the January to March period last year. Nearly one in two households in Singapore purchase electricity from SP Group as at April this year.
Mr Gan said the impact of short-term spikes in fuel prices is mitigated here in two ways.
First, power generation companies buy the bulk of their natural gas under multi-year gas supply contracts. Second, they pass on some of this price stability to consumers through fixed price plans.
However, sustained high fuel prices will eventually feed into Singapore's electricity prices, he added.
To help households, those who are eligible will receive Goods and Services Tax Voucher - U-Save rebates to support them with utility expenses, said Mr Gan.
He also encouraged households to "use electricity prudently" through various ways, like tracking their electricity consumption patterns through the SP Utilities mobile app and designing their homes to be more energy efficient with the help of the E2Singapore website.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
