New pilot lets users compare electricity use with neighbours

SINGAPORE — Consumers will be able to compare their electricity consumption with that of their neighbours under a pilot launched by SP Services and the Energy Market Authority (EMA) — a move aimed at saving energy.

Under the pilot, households can compare on SP Services’ online portal their electricity usage in the past six months against the national average and the average usage of neighbours within the block. To ensure the privacy of personal data and prevent individual household data from being easily identified, SP Services and EMA said only households that have a sufficient number of neighbours would have access to these statistics.

The scheme will involve 260,000 users who have electronic-billing accounts. The number may rise when more consumers sign up for electronic billing with SP Services.

EMA Chief Executive Chee Hong Tat said the move would reduce costs for consumers, enhance Singapore’s energy security and benefit the environment.

“After gathering feedback from this pilot, we will work with SP Services on redesigning the hard-copy utilities bill to reach out to all 1.2 million households. We plan to include comparisons of gas- and water-consumption data in the next phase,” he added.

SP Services said it would be enhancing the pilot with more features and would be making it available via other channels such as mobile apps in the coming months.