SINGAPORE, Sept 29 — Electricity tariffs are set to increase by an average of 3.7 per cent, or about 0.98 cents per kWh before goods and services tax (GST), for the period of October to December, SP Group said in a news release today.

The utilities provider said the increase was due to higher energy costs compared to the previous quarter. In the previous quarter, tariffs also rose by 0.31 cents per kWh.

The latest increase takes the electricity tariff for the last quarter of the year to 28.70 cents per kWh, up from 27.74 cents per kWh.

For families living in a four-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat, their average monthly electricity bill will increase by S$3.57 (RM12.30) before GST, said SP Group said.

The electricity tariff comprises four components — energy costs paid to the generation companies, network costs and market support services fees paid to SP Group, and market administration and power system operation fees paid to the energy market company and power system operator.

The energy costs component is adjusted quarterly to reflect the changes in the cost of fuel and power generation.

The fuel cost refers to the cost of imported natural gas, which is linked to oil prices by commercial contracts.

Power generation costs cover mainly the costs of operating the power stations, such as the manpower and maintenance costs, as well as the capital cost of the stations.

The market administration and power system operation costs are reviewed annually to recover the costs of operating the electricity wholesale market and power system, said SP Group.

"SP Group reviews the electricity tariffs every quarter based on guidelines set by the electricity industry regulator,” the utilities provider added.

U-Save, S&CC rebates to help defray costs

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said in a media release today that it will begin disbursing U-Save and service and conservancy charges (S&CC) rebates in October to help defray the increase in GST and provide cost-of-living support for lower-to middle-income households.

The rebates are disbursed in April, July, October and January each year, and this latest support is the third quarterly tranche for the financial year of 2023.

Some 950,000 Singaporean households living in HDB flats are expected to benefit from this.

The MOF added that eligible households will receive double their regular U-Save rebate amount, which on average, will cover:

• Eight to 10 months of utility bills for households living in one and two-room HDB flats, and

• Four to six months of utility bills for households living in three and four-room HDB flats

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong also announced the provision of a S$1.1 billion Cost-of-Living support package to provide further support to lower-income Singaporeans.

Eligible Singaporeans will get an additional one-off 0.5 month S&CC rebate, on top of the regular rebates. This will be disbursed in January 2024.

An additional S$20 per quarter of U-Save rebates will also be provided to 950,000 households for two years from January 2024 to December 2025.

Eligible households do not need to take any action to benefit from the U-Save and S&CC rebates, including the additional financial support announced in the Cost-of-Living support package, said MOF.

The U-Save rebate will be credited directly into households’ utilities accounts with SP Group, while the S&CC rebates will be credited directly into households’ S&CC accounts with their respective Town Councils.

Residents can check or enquire about their eligibility for S&CC rebates by logging into My HDBPage via HDB InfoWEB with their Singpass account, or enquire about their household’s S&CC payment or account status through their respective Town Councils, the ministry added. — TODAY