Wednesday, November 7, 2018

The merits of switching electricity providers.

Singapore: 2018.
From November, all 1.4 million electricity consumers in Singapore will have the option of choosing their preferred electricity price plans from as many as 12 providers.
 
 
This after the Energy Market Authority (EMA) on Sep 21 announced the nationwide roll-out of the Open Electricity Market, an initiative to fully liberalise the retail power market here.
Simply put, buying electricity will soon be like choosing mobile phone plans. Instead of getting power solely from SP Group at the quarterly-reviewed regulated tariff, consumers will be able to sieve through price plans offered by as many as 12 approved retailers.
 
The roll-out to include 1.4 million consumers across the rest of Singapore is set for Nov 1 and will be done in batches according to postal codes. 
Households and business accounts with postal codes that begin from 58 to 78 will be the first, followed by the adjacent zone that has postal codes starting from 53 to 57, 79 to 80, 82 to 83 on Jan 1. 
 
 
The third zone, marked by postal codes from 34 to 52, and 81, will be included in the initiative from Mar 1 2019, while the final area that comprises of codes from 01 and 33 will get their turn on May 1.

The Open Electricity Market is an initiative by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) that allows you to enjoy more choices and flexibility when buying electricity.
With Open Electricity Market, you can benefit from competitive pricing and innovative offers from retailers.

Rollout Schedule

The nationwide launch of Open Electricity Market will be rolled out progressively in four geographical zones.

ZonePostal Codes Starting With...To be launched from*
158 - 78^1 November 2018
253 - 57, 79 - 80, 82 - 831 January 2019
334 - 52, 811 March 2019
401 - 331 May 2019
* Schedule is accurate as of 21 September 2018, but may be subject to further changes.^ Consumers in Jurong (postal codes 60-64) have been able to buy electricity from a retailer since 1 April 2018.

What You Need To Know About Open Electricity Market

  1. With Open Electricity Market, you can switch to a retailer at a price plan that best meets your needs.
  2. It is not compulsory for you to switch to a retailer. You can continue to buy electricity from SP Group at the regulated tariff as you do today and switch to a retailer at any time in the future. There is no deadline for switching to a retailer.
  3. Buying electricity from a retailer does not affect your electricity supply. This is because SP Group will continue to operate the national power grid and deliver electricity to everyone.
  4. If you are eligible for U-Save rebates, you will still be able to use them to offset your electricity bill after switching to a retailer.
  5. Check out the participating retailers here and compare their standard price plans using our Price Comparison Tool. If you choose to switch to a retailer, the retailer that you sign up with will work with SP Group to make the switch for you.
  • TO SWITCH OR NOT
    The liberalisation of Singapore’s retail electricity market has been a gradual one that started in 2001 with larger businesses. 
    Since then, more commercial consumers have been given the freedom to go shopping for electricity as the contestability threshold – the amount of electricity one uses per month – was lowered progressively. 
    For now, this refers to businesses with monthly electricity consumption averaging at least 2,000 kilowatt hour (kWh), equivalent to a bill of about S$400. According to EMA, more than half of the 95,000 eligible business accounts have made the switch as of July. 

  • Homeowners were given an option for the first time when the pilot test of the Open Electricity Market began in Jurong on Apr 1. Over the past five months, more than 30 per cent of consumers there have chosen to buy electricity from a different provider, with savings of about 20 per cent, the EMA said. 

  • The agency also surveyed 400 people that have switched retailers; about 80 per cent agreed that the initiative has its benefits such as competitive pricing and innovative offers, while a similar percentage of respondents described the switching process as an easy one. 
    1. TO SWITCH OR NOT
      The liberalisation of Singapore’s retail electricity market has been a gradual one that started in 2001 with larger businesses.
      Since then, more commercial consumers have been given the freedom to go shopping for electricity as the contestability threshold – the amount of electricity one uses per month – was lowered progressively.
      For now, this refers to businesses with monthly electricity consumption averaging at least 2,000 kilowatt hour (kWh), equivalent to a bill of about S$400. According to EMA, more than half of the 95,000 eligible business accounts have made the switch as of July.
      Homeowners were given an option for the first time when the pilot test of the Open Electricity Market began in Jurong on Apr 1. Over the past five months, more than 30 per cent of consumers there have chosen to buy electricity from a different provider, with savings of about 20 per cent, the EMA said.
      The agency also surveyed 400 people that have switched retailers; about 80 per cent agreed that the initiative has its benefits such as competitive pricing and innovative offers, while a similar percentage of respondents described the switching process as an easy one.

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