Saturday, January 5, 2019

Open Electricity Market - First Thing I Did in 2019 Is To Switch

iSwitch Open Electricity Market
I am excited that finally Singapore's electricity market is opening up and we (as consumers) have more choice and say in selecting our preferred retailer. Of course, the most important thing is because of the "competition", the consumers can enjoy more competitive rate (as opposed to only with SP previously).

I have the privilege to switch my electricity supplier from 1 Jan 2019 (as I am staying in Zone 1 of their rolling out schedule) and have done some brief homework (i.e. comparing price and retailers). By the way, there are as many as 22 retailers to choose from (excluding SP). 

Open Electricity Market - Rolling Out Schedule
Open Electricity Market - Rolling Out Schedule

Finally, I've decided to switch to iSwitch yesterday. 

Reason? 

1. I've chosen the fixed price plan and they are cheapest in the market. Their current rate is $0.1766 per kWh (SP's current rate is $0.2413 per kWh). So, based on the initial estimation, I should be saving about 20% of the electricity bills from next month onward (the switch will take 10-12 working days to take effect).   

2. The switch is quite seamless and everything is online. As I made the switch with one of their sales agent, they help me fill-up everything in their mobile device and instantly I've received the confirmation email about the switch. 

3. SP is still behind the scene in supplying the electricity hence stability remained. In short, there is no separate installation required for the switch, I just take it as a change of billing provider while saving cost. 

I think this is a no-brainer for the switch, the question is to WHO? For more details about the Open Electricity Market, you are recommended to do your homework at their official site here. 

Cheers!   

26 comments:

  1. Actually if SP and EMA were being run like the old days, their tariffs will be 40+% cheaper.

    The current setup is a consolation prize. :)

    BTW, $0.2413 is before GST ... should use $0.2582 for comparison.

    For your case, you're having 31.6% discount currently. Sweet! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for dipping by, I didn’t include the GST as I believed iSwitch would charge GST too

      Delete
    2. $0.1766 is after GST, before GST is $0.1650

      Delete
    3. Rambo : thanks for the clarification.

      Delete
  2. You have not perform a thorough due diligence in making this switch and have not consider all factors while making this decision.You have not obtained the best saving from the open market.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. iswitch charged a monthly fee of $4.95 per mth before gst.

      Delete
    2. I am aware of this fee and already take this into consideration.

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    3. How was this taken into consideration? Can you help me compare iSwitch's offer with this offer http://bit.ly/2BPPm7R and advise me on whose offer is better ?

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    4. I Guess you need to do the comparison yourself since u already have the site (anyway the site is not functioning well with iOS), if you are anyway related to Sembcorp, you may want to feedback to them.

      Delete
  3. Hi, i am doing a comparsion and realised that the cheapest package that you recommended is not that cheap. If you browse through iSwitch's Electricity Supply Agreement, have you taken Any Other Fees and Charges (see footnote 8):

    • Service fee: $4.95 per month (Exc. GST); $5.297 per month (Inc. GST)

    Into consideration.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup! I am aware of this fee and have taken it into consideration

      Delete
    2. What is your average monthly consumption ?

      Delete
  4. Hey, thanks for sharing. Can i suggest that you insert a disclaimer to avoid misrepresentation ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Avoid misrepresentation of what/whom? This is my sharing of personal experience and not a sponsored post

      Delete
    2. Curious to know how can we tell if it is sponsered or unsponsered?

      Delete
    3. For my style, I will usually mark it as “sponsored or guest post”, so, for this particular post, it is unsponsored.

      Delete
  5. I was surprised to find a lower rate than keppel. That was when I saw it was for a year contract.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually mine is 2 years contract. What is Keppel’s fee like?

      Delete
  6. 17.66c/kWh is good but not the best.
    Check out bit.ly/OEMcalculator, there is a calculator to check against all plans from all OEM retailers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing.. I guess this tool is beneficial for other users

      Delete
  7. 3 retailers had already ceased operation. We never know how many more will fall. Better signed short term. iSwitch is not proven yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed.. to be fair, all new retailers are not proven yet.. the saving grace is iSwitch is still using the SP as their electricity supply ie supposed to be no diff to consumers if we were to switch back

      Delete
  8. How to decide to take on fixed or variable rate ? My household electricity bill is about 100-120 per month. Please advise as i find it too technical to understand all the terminology

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr Chua : I think it depends on individual whether u like to have a more stable bill (fixed plan) or don’t mind volatile bill (variable rate). As the plan that I choose is more than 20% off the current SP rate (of which most of the variable plan pegged at 20% off Regulated rate), hence I choose the fixed plan.. Besides, I don’t foresee that the regulated rate will drop drastically in the near future.

      Hope this clarifies.

      Delete
    2. Mr Chua, #justsharing.
      It depends on your view about the future oil prices and the impact on tariff rates. By signing on a fixed price contract now, you are taking a stand that future oil prices is likely to increase. So you hedged the current oil price as the fixed price contract offered now is based on the current oil prices.

      You could of cos take the "safer" option by pegging it to discount off tariff bearing in mind that the tariff rates are revised every 3 months also based on oil prices.

      Which plan to take whether fixed or variable depends greatly on your personal view about future oil prices.

      Delete

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