Singapore households will pay 10.4 per cent less for electricity from October after lower natural gas prices cut generation costs, reversing part of the record increase imposed in the third quarter.
The regulated household tariff will fall to 28.59 Singapore cents per kilowatt-hour before goods and services tax for October to December, from 31.91 cents in the July-September quarter, grid operator SP Group said on Wednesday. The reduction amounts to 3.32 cents per kWh.
Families living in four-room Housing Board flats are expected to see their average monthly electricity bill decline by S$12.99 before GST. The overall electricity tariff, covering households and non-household users, will decrease by an average 10.6 per cent, also equivalent to 3.32 cents per kWh.
The cut follows a 17 per cent jump in the household tariff for July to September, when the rate climbed by 4.64 cents per kWh as high natural gas prices fed through to power-generation costs. That increase lifted average monthly bills for four-room Housing Board households by S$17.14 before GST.
SP Group said the fourth-quarter reduction reflects lower natural gas prices between July 1 and September 15, which moved down alongside global fuel prices. Singapore’s regulated tariffs incorporate fuel costs with a lag, meaning the impact of movements in international energy markets is not immediately reflected in household bills.
The Energy Market Authority sets the regulatory framework under which SP Group reviews tariffs every quarter. The energy-cost component is calculated using average daily natural gas prices during the first two-and-a-half months of the preceding quarter.
Imported natural gas accounts for about 95 per cent of Singapore’s electricity generation, leaving domestic power costs sensitive to movements in global fuel markets. Fuel costs are tied to oil prices through commercial gas contracts, while other parts of the tariff cover generation, grid, billing, market administration and power-system operating expenses.
The tariff decline offers some relief after energy costs contributed to stronger consumer-price pressures during the third quarter. Singapore’s overall consumer price inflation rose to 2.3 per cent year on year in August from 2.2 per cent in July, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s core inflation measure increased to 2.2 per cent from 2 per cent.
Electricity and gas prices were 8.7 per cent higher in August than a year earlier, according to official inflation data. Authorities said the increase reflected the earlier surge in global energy prices, whose effect was transmitted into the regulated tariff with the usual delay.
The Monetary Authority and Ministry of Trade and Industry expect both core and headline inflation to average between 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent in 2026. They have cautioned that the inflation outlook remains exposed to renewed disruptions in global energy supplies, alongside other imported cost pressures.
The latest tariff reduction may therefore temper household utility costs during the final three months of the year, although it does not fully reverse the preceding quarter’s increase. The fourth-quarter rate remains 1.32 cents per kWh above the 27.27-cent tariff charged from April to June.
Piped town gas prices will also decline. City Energy said the household gas tariff will fall 8.6 per cent to 21.45 cents per kWh from October 1 to December 31, compared with 23.48 cents in the third quarter, reflecting lower fuel costs.
Households have several electricity purchasing options. Consumers may remain on SP Group’s regulated tariff or buy from retailers under fixed-price, discount-off-regulated-tariff and time-of-use plans. The regulated rate remains the default option for most households.
The share of households on fixed-price plans rose from 36.6 per cent on February 1 to 38.4 per cent on September 1, while proportion buying from SP Group under the regulated tariff declined from 63.4 per cent to 61.6 per cent.
