SINGAPORE — The electricity tariff for households will increase by about 8.7 per cent, or 1.77 cents per kilowatt hour (kWH), from April to June this year, compared with the previous quarter.

This is mainly due to higher cost of fuel for producing electricity by the power generation companies, utilities agency SP Group said on Wednesday (March 31).

Excluding Goods and Services Tax (GST), the tariff will increase from 20.76 to 22.55 cents per kWh from April 1 to June 30 this year.

Including GST, this rate is 24.13 cents per kWH.

This means that the average monthly electricity bill for families living in four-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats will increase by S$5.62 before factoring in GST. Including GST, this figure is S$6.01.

SP Group reviews the electricity tariffs every quarter of the year based on guidelines set by the electricity industry regulator, Energy Market Authority (EMA). The revised tariffs have been approved by EMA.

The latest tariff rate applies only to consumers who buy electricity from SP Group at the regulated tariff. As of February this year, this is about 51 per cent of household accounts.

A spokesperson from EMA said on Wednesday that fuel prices dropped in the first half of 2020, dipping to an all-time low in April last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“With the gradual resumption of global economic activity and tightening supply in the global oil market, fuel prices have been on an uptrend,” the spokesperson said.

The tariff from April to June this year is lower than the tariff in the first half of last year.

In the first quarter of 2020, the tariff, inclusive of GST, was 25.94 cents per kWH while in the second quarter of last year, it was 24.63 cents per kWH.