All Singapore consumers will be able to choose their electricity retailer by May 2019
By May next year, all 1.3 million households and 67,000 small businesses in Singapore will be able to pick which of 12 authorised retailers they want to buy their electricity from, apart from incumbent SP Group.
The open electricity market, which started with a soft launch in Jurong in April, will be progressively rolled out islandwide from 1 November, said the Energy Market Authority (EMA) on Friday (21 September).
With the roll-out, Singapore will be the first country in Southeast Asia that will have an open electricity market, according to EMA, a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).
Consumers can opt to remain with SP Group and buy electricity at the regulated tariff that is reviewed every quarter, or they can switch to another retailer at any time in the future.
Retailers must offer at least one of two standard price plans: a fixed price plan and/or one with a fixed discount off the regulated tariff.
Consumers can view and compare the different price plans online.
Households that are eligible can continue to use U-Save rebates to offset their electricity bills after switching to a retailer. There is no need for a change in meter if a household chooses to switch to a retailer.
“The reason for us to open up the electricity market is to make sure that there will be more retailers offering more competitive choices to our consumers and mainly for the households,” Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing told reporters after a press conference to announce the nation-wide launch of the open electricity market.
The EMA said the soft launch in Jurong which involved some 120,000 households and businesses was well-received. More than 30 per cent of households – mainly 4-room Housing Board flats and larger homes – made the switch to another retailer.
“Those who switched paid an electricity rate which was on average 20 per cent lower than the regulated tariff. We hope to bring the benefits of competitive pricing and innovative offers to the rest of Singapore,” said EMA chief executive Ngiam Shih Chun.
If a retailer exits the open electricity market, customers will be transferred to SP Group by default.
The EMA started opening up the electricity market to competition in 2001, starting with larger businesses with higher electricity consumption. More than half of eligible 95,000 business accounts from the commercial and industrial sector today have since switched to a retailer, accounting for about 77 per cent of total electricity demand, it said.
The retailers:
Best Electricity Pte Ltd
Environmental Solutions (Asia) Pte Ltd
Geneco (by Seraya)
ISwitch Pte Ltd
Keppel Electric Pte Ltd
Ohm Energy Pte Ltd
PacificLight Energy Pte Ltd
Sembcorp Power Pte Ltd
Senoko Energy Pte Ltd
SingNet Pte Ltd
Tuas Power Pte Ltd
Union Power Pte Ltd
The roll-out:
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