Soft Launch of Open Electricity Market in Jurong in April 2018

20 Oct 2017

   Starting April 2018, households and businesses in Jurong can choose to buy electricity from a retailer with a price plan that best meets their needs. This soft launch of the Open Electricity Market (previously referred to as Full Retail Competition) will provide consumers with more choices and flexibility in their electricity purchases.

2. A total of 108,000 household accounts and 9,500 business accounts in Jurong will have the option of buying electricity from a retailer of their choice, or continue buying electricity from SP Group at the regulated tariff. Consumers involved in the soft launch will be notified by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) in Q1 2018.

3. Mr Ng Wai Choong, Chief Executive of EMA, said “Our main objective of introducing the Open Electricity Market is to promote greater competition in the electricity market. With competition, consumers stand to benefit from competitive pricing, enhanced service standards and innovative packages from electricity retailers.”

4. He added, “Consumers can be assured that the reliability of their electricity supply will not be affected by their choice of retailers, as they will continue to receive electricity supply through the national power grid operated by SP Group.”

5. Since 2001, EMA has progressively opened up the electricity market to competition. This liberalisation of the electricity market aims to promote the supply of competitively-priced electricity and allow greater consumer choice. Currently, businesses with an average monthly electricity consumption of at least 2,000 kWh (equivalent to a monthly electricity bill of at least $400) already have the option of buying electricity from a retailer of their choice or to remain with SP Group.

6. The soft launch of Open Electricity Market will allow EMA, SP Group and electricity retailers to gather feedback and fine-tune processes where necessary, to enhance the consumer experience of buying electricity in a competitive market. We will extend this choice and flexibility to consumers in the rest of Singapore in the second half of 2018. This will involve 1.3 million accounts, mainly households. EMA will also be developing an online information platform to help consumers easily compare the standard price plans by different retailers.

7. More information on the Open Electricity Market can be found on EMA’s website at www.ema.gov.sg.

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