Energy agency seeks public opinion on electricity price adjustment
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is seeking public opinion on the adjustment of fuel tariff (FT) for electricity during the period September to December, which will affect the cap on electricity bills during the four months.
The commission reviews the FT every four months – in January, May and September – to ensure that the electricity rate is appropriate for the prevailing economic situation.
The commission secretary-general, Poonpat Leesombatpaiboon, said on Friday that the state agency had come up with three approaches on adjusting the FT in the upcoming period.
The first approach is to adjust the FT up to 222.71 satang per unit from the current 39.72 satang, to enable the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to settle all of its debt from electricity generation totalling 99.49 billion baht, as well as a 15.08-billion-baht debt that EGAT and PTT Plc owed for LNG sourcing.
This move would, however, drive up the power bill cap to 6.01 baht per unit from September to December, from the current 4.18 baht (a 44% increase).
The second approach is to adjust the FT up to 113.78 satang per unit, allowing EGAT to pay off its debts in three instalments of 32.83 billion baht each, as well as pay off 15.08 billion baht in debt that EGAT and PTT Plc owed for LNG sourcing.
This will result in the capping of power bills at 4.92 baht per unit from the current 4.18 baht (an 18% increase), but EGAT will still have outstanding debt totalling around 66.66 billion baht.
The third option would be to adjust the FT at 86.55 satang per unit, allowing EGAT to pay off its debts in six instalments of 16.41 billion baht each, as well as pay off the 15.08 billion baht debt that EGAT and PTT Plc owed for LNG sourcing.
This move would raise the power bill cap to 4.65 baht from the current 4.18 baht (a 11% increase), but EGAT will still have outstanding debt totalling around 82.07 billion baht.
The public can submit their opinions at www.erc.or.th from now until July 26, after which the ERC will announce its decision.
Poonpat said that as per the commission’s estimates, the electricity generation cost for the period September-December would be higher than during the May-August period due to the increasing cost of LNG, both mined from the Gulf of Thailand and imported. This is the result of the weakening of the baht against the US dollar, currently at 36.63 baht per dollar compared to 33 baht to the dollar in early 2024, he said.
