Cabinet appoints new Egat governor, hopes he can tackle its financial woes
The Cabinet has handed the management of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) president, hoping he can tackle Egat’s dwindling liquidity.
In a special meeting on Sunday, the Cabinet approved Energy Minister Piraphan Salirathavibhaga’s proposal that EGCO president Thepparat Theppitak be appointed the new Egat governor.
The weekly Cabinet meeting was moved up from Tuesday to Sunday because Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is scheduled to visit Australia from Monday to Wednesday.
Thepparat will replace Boonyanit Wongrukmit, whose tenure expired on August 21 last year.
A well-informed source from the Energy Ministry said the new Egat governor will be faced with several challenges, including the rising price of energy and Egat’s dwindling liquidity after the Cabinet instructed it to shoulder fuel tariff (FT) costs when calculating power bills.
According to the source, Egat has about 100 billion baht at its disposal. The Cabinet had earlier renewed the FT subsidy from December last year to April, and may again extend it to the end of the year.
Under the subsidy scheme, Egat was instructed to set the per unit rate at 3.99 baht, even though it claims the cost of producing one unit of electricity is 4.45 baht.
Thepparat, currently the president of Egat subsidy EGCO, earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Chiang Mai University and a master’s in electricity industry management and technology from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.
