Electricity Tariff to Decrease by 1.2% from 1 Jan 19 But It Doesn’t Matter Now

I know what you’re thinking: Goody Feed must be earning lots of money because they just claimed that it “doesn’t matter” when electricity tariff is increased.

Well, how about we put it in another way:

Imagine data fee taxes have increased for telecoms, and they’ll have to pay an additional $0.0001 for every GB they provide to consumers. However, telecoms didn’t change their pricing because that would mean a price war among all telecoms, which could eventually lead to lower prices.

Does it matter to you? No?

It’s the same logic.

Before anything, let’s understand something very basic.

What Are Electricity Tariffs?

Lest you’re not aware, electricity tariff is revised every three months by SP Group, and each revision in the whole of 2018 hasn’t been good news: the first revision in April 2018 saw an increase of about 2.8%. In July 2018, there was a whopping increase of 6.9% and in the latest revision from 1 October 2018, the average increase was 2.1%.

In all increases, the reason given was similar: it was due to the higher cost of natural gas that produces electricity.

SP Group Electricity Tariffs to Decrease by About 1.2% from 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2019

From 1 January 2019, SP Group electricity tariffs are going to drop by about 1.2%. The previous rate is 24.13 cents per kWh, and it’ll be 23.85 cents per kWh from 1 January 2019.

But of course, if you see the chart provided in SP Group’s press release, it’s still considerable high compared to last year’s rate.

On average, a family living in a four-room flat will see a decrease of $1 per month.

Here’s a handy agak-ration of how much increase you should be expecting based on your property size…if you’re still using SP Group.

So if you live in–wait, did I hear you saying something?

Something like, “Hey, Captain Obvious, of course we’re using SP Group. If not we use what seh? PS Group ah?”

Well, my little one who’s not so informed, this is exactly why we specifically mention that it “doesn’t matter” in our headline.

Because not everyone’s using SP Group now.

Nationwide Launch of Open Electricity Market

If you look old enough to be someone paying the electricity bills in your household, chances are you’d have been stopped by someone in the mall, in the petrol station or just about anywhere with this three words: “Have you switched?”

No, it has nothing to do with Super Mario and Nintendo Switch.

You see, since 1 November 2018, certain households in Singapore can switch their electricity retailers–they no longer need have to buy electricity from merely SP Group.

Here’s the exact rollout schedule:

(For your info, people in Jurong could buy from other retailers since April 2018.)

So if you live in the northeast, you’d most likely be seeing more promoters in malls with eyes that say “Have you switched?” in the next few months.

According to a The Sunday Times article, about 30% of those eligible to change have done so.

But the question is of course this: are they cheaper?

An Example from our Older Article

If you’ve been coming to our app daily, you’ll know the answer.

But for the benefit of those people who’s just downloaded our app, here’s a simple answer: yes, they are.

Now, let’s take an example of a company which we’ll call ABC Company (not the real name of the company, of course, but it exists). Initially, the company just sold electricity to manufacturing companies lah, malls lah, etc – places that take lots of energy.

Since April 2018, they’re allowed to sell to people in Jurong, and here’s the thing: their prices are rather competitive.

At 17.78 cents per kwh for a 24-month contract (remember, the 1 January 2019 rate for SP Power is going to be 23.85 cents), the price is fixed at that amount for the duration. In addition, you can also opt for a plan that charges more during the day and less at night, as you most likely are using more electricity (air-con, Bro) at night.

There are more examples, but you get the drift; with competition, you can only expect one outcome: creativity flourish and prices drop.

So yes, like what Stone Cold Steve Austin would say, “It doesn’t matter if SP Group increase price to $100 per kWh! I’ll just change to Starhub!”

Oh, in case you think we’ve confused telecom with electricity retailer, we haven’t: Starhub, and even M1, are jumping on the bandwagon and selling electricity, too.