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1.
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What is the average monthly electricity and gas consumption for the various household types?
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The average monthly electricity and gas consumption for the various household types can be found on SP Services website here.
Under CUSTOMER SERVICE,
click 'frequently asked questions';
click 'Household Average Consumption for Electricity, Water and Gas'.
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2.
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How do I apply for an electrical installation licence?
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You are required to appoint a licensed electrical worker (LEW) of appropriate class to take charge of the electrical installation. Your appointed LEW will submit the licence application online using EMA's e-Licence Information Services (ELISE).
You may check your licence application status at https://www.ema.gov.sg/eservices/selectmethod.php using the application reference number issued during the online submission.
Upon approval of the licence application, your appointed LEW will be notified and he shall print the electrical installation licence and deliver the licence to you within 7 working days from receipt of the notification.
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3.
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When do I need an electrical installation licence?
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You are required to obtain an electrical installation licence when you use or operate an electrical installation of approved load exceeding 45 kilo volt ampere (kVA) for non-domestic purposes.
Electrical installations in premises used for 'hazardous trades', irrespective of their approved loads, are also required to be licensed. Examples are garage for painting motor vehicle, wood-working or saw-milling, petrol stations, paints and petroleum products, and temporary supply where building operations or works of engineering construction are being carried.
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4.
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How is liberalisation of the electricity market implemented in Singapore?
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The Singapore electricity retail market will be liberalised in 3 different phases. The first two phases of retail competition involves the introduction of retail contestability to large industrial and commercial consumers, whose total consumption makes up about 75% of total electricity sales in Singapore.
There were about 5,000 consumers with an average monthly consumption of 20,000kWh and above who were classified contestable consumers in Phase 1 of the retail market liberalisation. This phase of the retail liberalisation had been completed in end Sep 03. Phase 2 retail market liberalisation has commenced in Dec 03. It comprises another 5,000 consumers with an average monthly consumption of 10,000kWh and above.
Retail contestability will eventually be introduced to the remaining domestic and small non-domestic consumers (with average consumption less than 10,000kWh per month) under the third phase of retail liberalisation. The number of consumers in the third phase is about 1 million, but in terms of electricity sales, they represent only about 25% of total sales in Singapore. Phase 3 of the retail market liberalisation is currently under study. EMA is currently embarking on the Electricity Vending System (EVS) Pilot Project to test the concept of integrating the existing e-payment system with smart metering system to enable this remaining 1 million consumers to purchase any electricity at competitive prices, from any retailer of their choice.
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5.
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My electricity bills have increased significantly over the years even though my usage remained constant. Could the authorities review and lower the tariffs?
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SP Services Ltd sets the electricity tariffs which have to be approved by EMA as the regulator. Electricity tariffs are reviewed quarterly and adjusted if necessary, to pass on the changes in fuel cost to consumers. Fuel cost makes up about half the cost of producing electricity, making it the single largest cost component in producing electricity. As Singapore produces no fuel of its own, we are totally dependent on imported fuel to generate electricity. So when fuel prices increase or decrease, electricity prices have to follow accordingly.
EMA allows SP Services Ltd to recover the costs when it had under-collected and require SP Services to return the costs to consumers when it had over-collected. This is a fair and transparent charging mechanism for consumers and for electricity suppliers.
Apart from tariff adjustments, another reason utilities bills for household have gone up is that households are consuming more electricity. With increasing affluence, Singaporeans are owning more energy-intensive appliances such as air-conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, etc. For example, in 1988, 19% of households in Singapore owned air-conditioners. The figure shot up to 72% in 2003. Such changes in lifestyles invariably lead to higher electricity consumption. Consumers are therefore encouraged to watch their electricity consumption, avoid wastage and use electricity wisely.
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