Power bills could start dropping in May, says Energy Ministry
Power bills for both residential and business users could drop after this year’s second fuel tariff (Ft) adjustment in May, Energy Ministry permanent-secretary Kulit Sombatsiri said on Monday.
Kulit was speaking after a meeting of the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC), which forecast electricity usage will reach a peak in April and start to drop in May.
It also predicted a drop in the price of imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the same period, enabling the country to reduce diesel used for electricity generation and substitute it with cheaper LPG.
“These conditions could prompt the Energy Regulatory Commission [ERC] to consider lowering the Ft for the second adjustment period of the year,” said Kulit, adding that the ERC could return to the same rate of under 5 baht for both household and business users.
Currently the household rate is 4.72 baht per unit, while businesses are charged 5.33 baht. The Ft aims to help household users, who use less energy than the business sector, by using natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand to produce electricity for this group, resulting in cheaper power bills.
ERC secretary-general Khomkrit Tantrawanich added that the commission will adjust the Ft based on three core factors: The price of imported fuels, currency exchange rate, and the amount of natural gas flowing from the Gulf of Thailand.
Other factors that could affect Ft adjustment include the amount of the fuel tariff paid to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), which is currently 0.22 baht per unit, he said.
If Egat requires a higher rate to maintain electricity generation, the Ft adjustment in May could result in little change to power bills, he added.
The ERC reviews the Ft every four months – in January, May and September.
