Electricity Tariffs

Commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers of electricity are grouped into either contestable or non-contestable consumers in Singapore. Contestable consumers are able to buy electricity from a number of retailers or wholesalers in an open market.

C&I consumers who are not eligible to be contestable will continue to buy electricity from SP Services, which is the market support services company that supplies electricity to C&I consumers.

This tariff comprises two key components – fuel cost and non-fuel cost.

The fuel cost, or cost of imported natural gas, is tied to oil prices by commercial contracts, which can change depending on global market conditions. The non-fuel cost is the cost of generating and delivering electricity to homes.

Find out more about past electrical tariffs through this link from SP Services.

Fuel Cost

This component of the tariff is based on the average fuel oil price in the previous three months. For example, the average fuel oil price between April and June 2014 was used to set the tariff for July to September 2014.

This formula helps smoothen out any large swings in the fuel oil markets. For households, this means electricity tariffs that are reflective of prevailing market conditions.

About 95 per cent of Singapore's electricity is generated from imported natural gas, the prices of natural gas – which are determined by commercial contracts – are indexed to fuel oil prices. This is the market practice in Asia for natural gas contracts. Hence, if the prices of fuel oil increase by 10 per cent, natural gas prices would also increase by 10 per cent.

Non-fuel cost

This part of the tariff reflects the cost of generating and delivering electricity to our homes. It includes:

Power Generation Cost

This covers mainly the costs of operating the power stations, such as the manpower and maintenance costs, as well as the capital costs of the stations.

Grid Charge

This is to recover the cost of transporting electricity through the power grid.

Market Support Services (MSS) Fee

This is to recover the costs of billing and meter reading.

Power System Operation and Market Administration Fees

These fees are to recover the costs of operating the power system and administering the wholesale electricity market.