Fuel adjustment electricity tariff to be cut only slightly
THE FUEL adjustment electricity tariff (Ft) for the first four months of next year will be cut by only 4 satang amid expectations of cost pressures.
Viraphol Jirapraditkul, spokesman for the Energy Regulatory Commission, said yesterday that the Ft for January to April would be reduced to minus-37.29 satang per kilowatt-hour (unit). That will bring the average electricity rate for all types of consumers down to Bt3.3827 per unit as of New Year’s Day.
The Ft is reviewed every four months for changes in the variable costs of electricity generation, especially fuel costs. It is levied on top of the base tariff, whose rates depend on the type of user.
The projected Ft cost for January to April is minus-41.09 satang per unit, down 7.8 satang from the previous four-month period.
The result contrasts with the estimate that Ft costs would have to go up sharply because of the unscheduled maintenance shutdowns of many power plants, both in Thailand and abroad, – that help reduce availability payment of the utilities, Viraphol said.
However, because of the uptrends in electricity demand and natural-gas prices, and the scheduled shutdown of Myanmar’s Yadana gas field next year, the Ft for the next May-to-August period is likely to go up.
The major factors for the January-April Ft cost are the rise in the price of natural gas by Bt6.26 per million British thermal unit to Bt233.1, the rise of the fuel-oil price and the commissioning of more renewable-source power plants. That pushes up the Ft cost for the next four months by 0.89 satang from 21.6 satang per unit of expenses booked in the current four-month period.
The commission expects electricity demand in the January-April period to increase by 1.46 per cent from the September-December period.
