Electricity, gas tariffs to go up for next three months amid rising costs
SINGAPORE – Household residents will have to fork out more money for utility bills from Friday (Oct 1) to Dec 31 as electricity and gas tariffs continue to climb since the start of the year.
Electricity tariffs will increase at an average of 3.2 per cent compared with the previous quarter, said national grid operator SP group in a statement on Thursday.
For households specifically, tariffs will rise at an average of 3.1 per cent.
The rise is due to the higher cost of fuel for producing electricity by the power generation companies.
For households, the electricity tariff will increase from 23.38 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) to 24.11 cents per kwh in the fourth quarter, excluding goods and services tax (GST).
This is the highest it has been priced since the January to March period last year.
The average monthly electricity bill for families living in four-room Housing Board flats will increase by $2.49, said SP group, which reviews electricity tariffs every quarter based on guidelines set by electricity industry regulator Energy Market Authority.
The revised electricity tariffs for the coming quarter have been approved by the authority.
Electricity tariffs are calculated from four components, including energy costs that reflect the cost of imported natural gas.
Gas tariffs for households will also increase in the coming quarter. They will go up by 0.57 cents per kwh, said City Gas, the producer and retailer of piped town gas here.
Excluding GST, the rate will increase from 18.47 cents per kwh to 19.04 cents per kwh from Friday to Dec 31. With GST, the rate will be 20.37 cents per kwh.
The rise in utility expenses comes amid a worldwide surge in energy prices as the global economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Europe, power prices have nearly tripled in some countries, which are bracing themselves for rising costs as winter approaches.
The International Energy Agency reported that electricity prices were 54 per cent higher in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2020 in major advanced economies worldwide.
This was due to rising fossil fuel prices caused by the coronavirus crisis as well as changes in electricity demand, it said.
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