Open Electricity Market (OEM): Which Electricity Retailer Is The Cheapest in Singapore? (Jun 2021)

Electricity Tariff in Singapore (Jul to Sep Update 2021)

Electricity tariff will be increasing from 22.55 cents to 23.38 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), increasing by about 8.6% as compared to the January to March quarter. 

Or 25.02 cents per kWh if you want to factor in the 7% GST.

In simpler words, it means that if you live in a 4-room HDB flat.

You can expect your average monthly bill to increase by $3.04, without GST.

Which is not the best news for us all…

We’re pretty sure that the Open Electricity Market (OEM) will be adjusting their prices accordingly as well, which means a more expensive electricity bill…

(fingers crossed)

If you’re wondering, “What is OEM?”

Just know that it means that you can switch to an electricity retailer and save money on your electricity bill.

Interested?

Find out who is the cheapest electricity retailer and how to make the switch!

Do note that prices and promotions are subject to change without prior notice. Information accurate as of 8 June 2021. 

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TL;DR: Which Is the Cheapest Open Electricity Market (OEM) Plan in Singapore?

Cheapest Fixed Price Plan

Cheapest Discount Off Regulated Tariff Plan

Cheapest Peak And Off-Peak Plan

Too many options?

Want to switch but don’t know which?

Why not use our FREE Open Electricity Market Comparison Tool?

All it takes is a couple of clicks and you’ll be able to find out how much you can save!

Find Me The Best Electricity Plan Now!

If you’re satisfied with your choice, you can even apply for the plan immediately!

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• What Is the Open Electricity Market (OEM)?
• So… Who Are the Electricity Retailers in the OEM?
• What Types of Electricity Price Plans Do They Offer?
• How To Choose The Cheapest Open Electricity Market (OEM) Plan
• Which Electricity Retailer’s Fixed Price Plan Is The Cheapest?
• Which Electricity Retailer’s Discount Off The Regulated Tariff (DORT) Plan Is The Cheapest?
• Which Electricity Retailer’s Peak And Off-Peak Plan Is The Cheapest?
• SP Wholesale Plan?
• Average Electricity Consumption and Electricity Bill of Singaporeans
• How Much Do Singaporeans Spend on Electricity Every Month?
• Some Commonly Asked Questions About The OEM

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Why Did You Guys Spend So Much Time Comparing The OEM Retailers?

Well… if there’s one thing which Singaporeans care deeply about.

It’s saving money.

Especially when it comes to utilities like electricity.

In fact, when we first wrote this article and did a comparison between the Open Electricity Market (OEM) electricity retailers, even the Straits Times picked it up.

#weirdflexbutokay

We then figured that a comparison tool might be easier to find the best open electricity market plan for the Seedly Community and decided to build that.

Totally NOT out of selfish reasons, of course.

It’s not like we used it to find out how to lower our electricity bill and then thought that maybe everyone else can benefit too…

Editor’s note: (rolls eyes)

What Is the Open Electricity Market (OEM)?

In October 2017, the Electricity Market Authority (EMA) first announced the Open Electricity Market (OEM) initiative in a bid to liberalise and encourage innovation in the power industry.

Fast forward to May 2019, all households in Singapore can choose to switch from SP Group to their preferred electricity provider.

So… Who Are the Electricity Retailers in the OEM?

There are 12 electricity retailers in Singapore:

1. Best Electricity Supply Pte Ltd
2. Diamond Energy Merchants Pte Ltd
3. Geneco (by Seraya Energy Pte Ltd)
4. iSwitch Pte Ltd
5. Keppel Electric Pte Ltd
6. Ohm Energy Pte Ltd
7. PacificLight Energy Pte Ltd
8. Sembcorp Power Pte Ltd
9. Senoko Energy Supply Pte Ltd
10. Sunseap Energy Pte Ltd 
11. Tuas Power Supply Pte Ltd
12. Union Power Pte Ltd 

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What Types of Electricity Price Plans Do They Offer?

 Ah…

Now you’re asking the right questions.

Most OEM retailers offer a selection of 3 different price plans.

Fixed Price Plan

This is similar to SP Group’s electricity plan.

You sign a contract with them and pay a fixed rate for whatever amount of power used.

For obvious reasons, all of the electricity retailers are offering fixed prices plans which are competitively priced (read: lower than SP).

Discount Off Regulated Tariff (DORT) Plan

The price you pay is pegged to the regulated tariff announced by EMA, albeit at a discount.

Because SP Group’s price plan is always determined by EMA’s regulated tariff.

This means that you’ll always be paying less than what SP Group would charge you if you’re on a DORT plan.

Non-Standard Plan

These include peak and off-peak packages where the electricity retailer charges higher prices during peak hours and lower prices during off-peak.

Ideal if you are usually awake during off-peak hours (read: are a night-owl).

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How To Choose The Cheapest Open Electricity Market (OEM) Plan

Step 1: Use the Seedly Open Electricity Market Comparison Tool

That’s it.

It’s that simple.

You can even read real user reviews, left by our friendly Seedly community, about the various retailers to help you make your decision.

That way, you can get more insights from like-minded Singaporeans with regard to:

• user experience
• customer service
• billing issues (if any)
• pro and cons of the retailer

The tool also gives lets you know if there are any credit card deals and promotions which you can use to save even more!

Once you’ve got an idea of which plan you want, head on over to the retailer’s website and download the respective plan’s factsheet to READ THE FINE PRINT.

Pro tip: the Discount Off Regulated Tariff Plan seems to be the most popular amongst the Seedly Community.

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Which Electricity Retailer’s Fixed Price Plan Is The Cheapest?

With 12 retailers, choosing one can be quite a chore, but we are here to help by comparing all the plans they have for households.

In general, we noted that Fixed Price Plans are cheaper than what you would pay for if you’re paying SP based on the current electricity tariff.

(Note: Prices inclusive of GST. Monthly bill based on the electricity consumption of 370 kWh a month)

Also, here are the cheapest fixed OEM plans based on contract length:

• No Contract Plans:
  • PacificLight: $0.1743/kWh (+ $0.33 daily fee) | Monthly Bill: $74.73
• Six Month Plan:
  •  iSwitch: $0.1755/kWh | Monthly Bill: $64.94
• One Year Plan:
  • Union Power: $0.1949/kWh | Monthly Bill: $72.11
• Two Year Plan: 
  • Pacific Light: $0.1938/kWh | Monthly Bill: $71.70
• Three Year Plan:
  • iSwitch: $0.1905/kWh | Monthly Bill: $70.49

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Which Electricity Retailer’s Discount Off The Regulated Tariff (DORT) Plan Is The Cheapest?

If you’d like to take a bet on the electricity tariff, then the DORT plan might be more your thing.

DORT plans charges you by taking a percentage off the cost from the EMA stipulated electricity tariff for the quarter.

(Note: Prices inclusive of GST. Monthly bill based on the electricity consumption of 370 kWh a month).

Also, here are the cheapest DORT OEM plans based on contract length:

• Six Month Plan:
  • Sunseap: 21% off | Monthly Bill: $70.53
• One Year Plan:
  • Sembcorp Power: 23.7% | Monthly Bill: $68.12
  • Senoko Energy: 23.7% | Monthly Bill: $68.12
• Two Year Plan:
  • Sunseap: 23.6% | Monthly Bill: $68.21
  • Tuas Power: 23.61% | Monthly Bill: $68.30

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Which Electricity Retailer’s Peak And Off-Peak Plan Is The Cheapest?

For most retailers, the off-peak period is defined as 11pm to 7am.

So if you’re a night owl or do most of your work in the wee hours of the night, then the Peak And Off-Peak Plan might be better for you.

Not many retailers offer this as consumers would have to get an extra meter installed to monitor electrical activity.

(Note: Prices inclusive of GST. Monthly bill based on the electricity consumption of 370 kWh a month)

• PacificLight offers a DORT price plan for their peak and off-peak plan
• Keppel Electric offers a fixed price plan for their peak and off-peak plan
• Should a consumer chooses to go with Peak and Off-peak plan, they may need to install a smart meter to track their electricity consumption every half an hour
• The meter installation fee costs $40 (before GST)

SP Wholesale Electricity Plan

On top of the regulated tariff, the SP Group offers a non-standard price plan where customers can buy electricity directly from the wholesale electricity market 

The good thing about this price plan is that there is no lock in period or contract.

This means that you can switch back to the SP regulated tariff plan or sign up for an OEM plan without any penalty.

But, do note that the wholesale electricity price (WEP) varies every half hour depending on the prevailing demand and supply situation in Singapore’s wholesale electricity market.

Thus you will have to bear the risk of price fluctuations if there are any abrupt changes in electricity’s demand and supply.

You can refer to the chart below to get an idea of the WEP:

For instance, in February 2019, the half-hourly WEP ranged between $0.14/kWh and a crazy $1.56/kWh. 

Thus, you should carefully consider this WEP as it is the more unstable and riskier option due to the price fluctuations.

There is more certainty if you buy electricity from an electricity retailer under a Fixed Price or Discount Off the Regulated Tariff price plan.

To illustrate this, let’s look at this real-life example from someone working at WhatCard:

Please ignore the many lines in the bill and focus on the person’s total electricity consumption and how much he paid for his electricity bill.

If you subtract the one-off security deposit cost of $98, the person only paid ~$85 for his electricity. Divide this over his electricity usage (801.34 kWh) and you’ll find that he is only paying $0.106/kWh which is way lower than the fixed discounted tariff rates of $0.17 to $0.19/kWh offered by the OEM retailers.

But on balance, this past performance is not indicative of future returns and you may not always enjoy such a low rate. 

But, I can see no harm in trying the SP wholesale electricity plan for a month or two to see if you save more money compared to the regulated tariff and the OEM plans.

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Average Electricity Consumption and Electricity Bill of Singaporeans

If you’d like to know how much you can potentially save if you switched to an OEM retailer, let’s have a look at how much Singaporeans spend on electricity per month, on average.

Using the current Q3 2021 (1 July 2021 to 30 September 2021) electricity tariff rate: 25.02 cents per kWh (including GST).

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How Much Do Singaporeans Spend on Electricity Every Month?

Singaporeans are subjected to Electricity Tariff, which is regulated by the Energy Market Authority (EMA).

For Q3 2021, the electricity tariff is 23.38 cents per kWh (excluding GST). 

The Electricity Tariff is made up of 4 main components:

The sum of the 4 components makes up your Electricity Tariff, which will be what the consumer pays for their monthly electricity bill.

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Some Commonly Asked Questions About The OEM

1. Why Are Electricity Retailers Able Charge Lower For Electricity Than SP Group?

You’re probably going, “WALAO, has SP Group been overcharging me ALL THESE YEARS?!”

Not exactly.

The regulated tariff takes into account the cost of producing and delivering electricity which includes the cost of building and operating power plants as well as maintaining the power grid.

The rates offered by retailers, on the other hand, reflect current market conditions and the short-term costs of producing electricity.

If the current market conditions see excess in supply as compared to demand, the price of electricity will naturally be lower.

These retailers can then go into the wholesale market and buy electricity in bulk from power generation companies.

Of course, these prices offered by retailers are only fixed during your contract. So they can adjust their prices and discounts over time. But fret not, you can always switch back to buying electricity at the regulated tariff from SP Group at any time – after you complete your contract of course; unless you wish to pay the early termination fee…

2. When Can I Start Applying?

As of today, you can switch to an Open Electricity Market retailer anytime.

But as with anything that has to do with money, take the time to understand the OEM before you switch.

The retailers might be throwing promo codes around like Oprah Winfrey and shouting out how they’re the cheapest in town.

But you really should take the time to understand the other stuff which electricity retailers don’t usually talk about like:

• Administrative fee
• AMI meter installation fee
• Auto-renewal of contract clause
• Carbon tax
• Early termination charges
• Late payment fee
• Paper bill
• Security deposit
• Transmission loss factor
• U-Save GST Voucher

Read more: Hidden Fees And T&Cs To Take Note When Choosing An Electricity Retailer

3. What Is Transmission Loss Factors (TLF)?

To put it simply, it’s a scaling factor that has been applied at the metering point to account for network and transformer loss.

Think of it this way: To get you one unit of electricity, the retailer needs to send two units of electricity to account for the possible loss of one unit of electricity when electricity travels across such a vast distance from the power plant to your home. That’s the TLF that they need to factor in when charging you.

Most of us fall under the 230kv/400kV load.

SP Group should have already adjusted this to reflect the actual consumer use, so retailers will adhere to SP Group’s recommended TLF and bill you accordingly.

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Wanna Switch But Don’t Know Which?

With so many options in the market, it’s hard to decide which to switch to.

Why not give the Seedly Open Electricity Market Comparison Tool a whirl and see how much you can shave off your electricity plan?

It’s free to use anyways!

Find Me The Best Electricity Plan Now!