SINGAPORE: Singaporeans have this to look forward to in the last three months of 2024: there will be lower gas and electricity tariffs from October to December because of lower costs of energy and fuel.

“For the period from 1 Oct to 31 Dec 2024, the electricity tariff (before GST) for households will decrease by 2.6 per cent or 0.78 cent per kilowatt hour than the previous quarter due to lower energy costs.

The average monthly electricity bill for families living in HDB four-room flats will decrease by $3.00 (before GST),” said SP Group, the owner and operator of Singapore’s electricity network, on Monday (Sept 30).

Screengrab/ SP Group

Based on guidelines set by the Energy Market Authority (EMA), the industry regulator, SP Group, reviews the electricity tariffs every quarter. “The electricity tariffs may fluctuate quarter to quarter due to volatile global fuel prices,” SP Group added.

City Energy, which also produces and retails piped gas, said that the gas tariff before GST will decrease by 0.45 cents per kilowatt hour. This means a decrease from 23.42 cents to 22.97 cents per kilowatt hour due to lower fuel costs than the previous quarter.

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Screengrab/ City Energy

City Energy similarly reviews gas tariffs based on EMA guidelines. It also said that gas tariffs may fluctuate from quarter to quarter due to variations in fuel prices around the world.

However, this is not the only good news Singaporeans received on Sept 30.

On Monday, The Ministry of Finance announced that over 950,000 Singaporean households living in HDB flats will receive U-Save and Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates this month.

MOF explained that this is part of the permanent GST Voucher (GSTV) scheme, which provides rebates to help support lower- to middle-income households. The U-Save rebates will help with the utility bills of Singaporean households.

This month, households that qualify will get as much as $190 worth of U-Save, depending on the type of HDB unit they live in.

“In total, eligible households will receive 2.5 times the amount of regular U-Save, or up to $950, in FY2024.

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On average, this will cover about 8 months of utility bills for those living in 1- and 2-room flats, and about 4 months of utility bills for those living in 3- and 4-room flats,” MOF said.

Eligible households will also receive up to one month of S&CC rebates this month. According to the ministry, they don’t need to take any action to benefit from the U-Save and S&CC rebates.

U-Save rebates will go directly into households’ utilities accounts with SP Services, and S&CC rebates will be credited directly into households’ S&CC accounts with their respective Town Councils. /TISG

Read related: October brings U-Save and S&CC rebates for over 950,000 households to help with the rising cost of living