Electricity profits increase 14% to $1.6b?

By Terence Ong - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1719900By Terence Ong - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1719900

June 30, 2016

Electricity tariffs up 9.2%

I refer to the article “Electricity tariffs up by 9.2 per cent from July to September, average monthly bill for four-room HDB flats will increase by $6.79” (Straits Times, Jun 30).

It states that “From July 1 to Sep 30, “electricity tariffs will increase by an average of 9.2 per cent or 1.59 cents per kWh compared to the previous quarter”, SP services said on Thursday (June 30) in a statement.

For households, the electricity tariff will increase from 17.68 to 19.27 cents per kWh. Tariffs in the first quarter of 2016 were 19.5 cents per kWh.”

$1.6b profits?

According to the annual reports of Singapore Power and Singapore PowerAssets for 2014/2015 – their combined profits for the year was $1.5893 billion.

14% increase in profits last year?

This is an increase of $197.2 million or 14.2 per cent over 2013/2014’s combined profits of $1.3921 billion.

Paying through our nose?

Is there something not very right with our electricity system, which may make Singaporeans pay one of the highest charges for electricity in the world, after adjusting for purchasing power parity and relative wages?

Leong Sze Hian

 

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About the Author

Leong
Leong Sze Hian has served as the president of 4 professional bodies, honorary consul of 2 countries, an alumnus of Harvard University, authored 4 books, quoted over 1500 times in the media , has been a radio talkshow host, a newspaper daily columnist, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow, columnist for theonlinecitizen and Malaysiakini, executive producer of Ilo Ilo (40 international awards), Hotel Mumbai (associate producer), invited to speak more than 200 times in about 40 countries, CIFA advisory board member, founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of 2 countries. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors degrees and 13 professional  qualifications.