Energy agency seeks public opinion on FT adjustment for May-August
Public opinion is sought by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on the adjustment of fuel tariff (FT) for making electricity during the period May to August, which will affect the cap on electricity bills during the four months.
The ERC reviews the FT every four months – in January, May and September – to ensure that the electricity rate is appropriate for the prevailing economic situation.
Komkrit Tantravanich, ERC secretary-general and spokesman, said on Friday that the commission had come up with three approaches on adjusting the FT in the upcoming period.
The first approach is to adjust the FT up to 165.24 satang per unit from the current 39.72 satang, to enable the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) settle all of its debt from electricity generation totalling 99.6 billion baht.
This move would, however, drive up the power bill cap to 5.44 baht per unit from May to August.
The second approach is to adjust the FT up to 55.72 satang per unit, allowing Egat to pay off its debts in four instalments of 24.92 billion baht each. This will result in the capping of power bills at 4.34 baht per unit, but Egat will still have outstanding debt after August totalling around 74.76 billion baht.
The third option would be to keep the FT unchanged at 39.72 satang per unit, as well as the power bill cap at the current 4.18 baht. However, by doing so Egat’s debt will be repaid in seven instalments of 14 billion baht each. The electricity agency will shoulder the remaining debt of around 85.68 billion baht after August.
The public can submit their opinions at www.erc.or.th from now until March 22, after which the ERC will announce its decision.
Komkrit said that as per the commission’s estimates, the electricity generation cost for the period May-August would be lower than during the January-April period due to the continuous drop in LNG price, which has so far brought down the estimated pool gas price from 333 million baht per BTU to 300 million baht.
He revealed that the Erawan natural gas field in the Gulf of Thailand would double its daily output from 400 million to 800 million cubic feet per day from April. However, the amount of domestically harvested natural gas earmarked for electricity generation is expected to be the same, if not lower.
This leaves Thailand still dependent on imported LNG from Myanmar, especially during the summer when power usage is expected to spike, he said.
