Regulated Tariff

As a default option, residential consumers in Singapore buy electricity from SP Group, a market support services company regulated by EMA. The tariff set by SP Group is reviewed every quarter, and is regulated by EMA to reflect the actual cost of electricity.

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. This changes 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 from the SP Group website

Breakdown of Electricity Tariff

Fuel cost

This component of the tariff is calculated using the average of daily natural gas prices in the first two-and-a-half month period in the preceding quarter. For example, the average natural gas price between April and June is used to set the tariff for July to September.

This helps to smoothen out the impact of any large swings in the oil markets, while ensuring electricity tariffs are updated to reflect market conditions.

Around 95% of Singapore's electricity is generated from imported natural gas, the prices of natural gas are indexed to oil prices. This is the market practice in Asia for natural gas contracts.

Non-fuel cost

This part of the tariff reflects the cost of generating and delivering electricity to consumers. 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.
• Network Costs
  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, data management, retail market systems as well as for market development initiatives.
• 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.

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Benchmarking Singapore’s Electricity Tariffs

Some may claim that Singapore’s electricity prices are one of the highest in the world.

Benchmarking studies regularly commissioned by EMA show that our regulated tariff for households is comparable to that of similar cities around the world. Our tariffs are neither the highest nor the lowest. Singapore adopts the principle of pricing electricity to reflect its true cost to discourage wasteful consumption.

Read more: Are our electricity prices one of the highest in the world?

View the electricity tariff benchmarking statistic