<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Oct 27, 2008
ELECTRICITY PRICES
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>82% higher here than in Hong Kong
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE recent jump in the electricity tariff has left many wondering what was the rationale. Is the oil price the only culprit?
Fuel is not the only component cost of electricity. Buildings and infrastructure, plant and machinery depreciation, maintenance, insurance, manpower, distribution grid and management costs are substantial expenditure in the total production of electricity.
Forum writers have pointed out that Singapore's electricity is more expensive than in the United States and France. Some ask for transparency, while others wish the price to remain, in view of the economic downturn. The authority does not seem willing to help. Should we cut household electricity usage back to 1970s level?
Everyone should save electricity, but there is a limit, unless we curtail our lifestyle to the extreme. More development, population growth and a higher standard of living increase electricity demand. Is it helpful to punish existing consumers who try their best to save?
Let us examine Singapore's 'twin city' of Hong Kong with a similar vibrant lifestyle and standard of living, and try to understand if Singaporeans, for all their hard work, enjoy the same public utility in good times or bad times.
Like Singapore, Hong Kong imports all its fuel and pays similar volatile fuel prices. Hong Kong does not enjoy the advantages of piped natural gas. Neither has nuclear power and both operate on the same business model - free market pricing.
=> Really?
I don't know how Hong Kong pegs its electricity tariff, but I am sure power generation companies know the production costs of electricity to work out competitive tariff rates to consumers. Unless Hong Kong gets very cheap oil, there is no reason why its tariff is so much lower.
However, people in Hong Kong pay an electricity tariff at 88 Hong Kong cents (17 Singapore cents) per unit. Why should Singaporeans pay 31 cents per unit - a whopping 82 per cent higher?
Paul Chan
ELECTRICITY PRICES
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>82% higher here than in Hong Kong
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE recent jump in the electricity tariff has left many wondering what was the rationale. Is the oil price the only culprit?
Fuel is not the only component cost of electricity. Buildings and infrastructure, plant and machinery depreciation, maintenance, insurance, manpower, distribution grid and management costs are substantial expenditure in the total production of electricity.
Forum writers have pointed out that Singapore's electricity is more expensive than in the United States and France. Some ask for transparency, while others wish the price to remain, in view of the economic downturn. The authority does not seem willing to help. Should we cut household electricity usage back to 1970s level?
Everyone should save electricity, but there is a limit, unless we curtail our lifestyle to the extreme. More development, population growth and a higher standard of living increase electricity demand. Is it helpful to punish existing consumers who try their best to save?
Let us examine Singapore's 'twin city' of Hong Kong with a similar vibrant lifestyle and standard of living, and try to understand if Singaporeans, for all their hard work, enjoy the same public utility in good times or bad times.
Like Singapore, Hong Kong imports all its fuel and pays similar volatile fuel prices. Hong Kong does not enjoy the advantages of piped natural gas. Neither has nuclear power and both operate on the same business model - free market pricing.
=> Really?
I don't know how Hong Kong pegs its electricity tariff, but I am sure power generation companies know the production costs of electricity to work out competitive tariff rates to consumers. Unless Hong Kong gets very cheap oil, there is no reason why its tariff is so much lower.
However, people in Hong Kong pay an electricity tariff at 88 Hong Kong cents (17 Singapore cents) per unit. Why should Singaporeans pay 31 cents per unit - a whopping 82 per cent higher?
Paul Chan
