Rate of Singapore households switching electricity provider slows sharply

• 49 per cent of all households have signed up with a new electricity provider three years after the market was liberalised
• That is little changed from 48 per cent as of figures released last November
• Among the 12 retailers, Sunseap was the only company that received a five-star rating
• More than nine in 10 of the respondents in a survey found switching retailer easy

SINGAPORE — The number of households in Singapore switching electricity providers has slowed to a crawl, going by figures released by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) on Friday (May 7).

After the market was liberalised two-and-a-half years ago to give residential consumers more choice, 40 per cent of all households made the change in the first year, rising to 48 per cent as of November last year.

The latest EMA figures show that as of April 30 the figure had inched up to 49 per cent, still shy of half of all residential consumers here.

Of the 49 per cent who have made the switch, most opted for fixed price plans, while the rest opted for plans with fixed discounts off the tariff.

TODAY previously reported that some consumers were not making the switch because they either found it too troublesome to compare prices among the various retailers, feared service disruption or were simply procrastinating.

The Open Electricity Market was first rolled out in zones in November 2018, and by May the following year, all consumers were able to switch to a retailer if they wished to do so.

Here are some of the key findings of EMA's latest customer satisfaction survey which polled 2,500 residential consumers in the second half of last year.

HOW THE 12 RETAILERS FARED

• 5 stars: Sunseap

• 4.5 stars: Diamond Electric, Ohm Energy, Sembcorp Power, Senoko Energy, Tuas Power

• 4 stars: Geneco, iSwitch, Pacific Light, Union Power

• 3.5 stars: Best Electricity, Keppel Electric

EMA said that the retailers with the largest share of residential consumers are:

• Keppel Electric: 22 per cent

• Geneco: 20 per cent

• Tuas Power: 15 per cent

HOW DO CONSUMERS RATE THE SWITCHING PROCESS?

More than nine in 10 of the respondents said they found it easy to either switch to a retailer or renew their contract.

When asked why they decided to sign a contract with a retailer:

• 82 per cent said the price plan was attractive

• 42 per cent did so because of discounts, vouchers and offers

• 5 per cent did so because of bundles with other services such as mobile phone plans

Another 12 per cent were categorised under “others”, which includes reasons such as the retailer offering carbon neutral or green energy, same billing arrangement under SP Group and the availability of hardcopy bills.

Other reasons were the availability of short contract periods, good customer feedback and retailers providing an impression of good reliability.

EMA added that compared with the previous two surveys, there continues to be a decline in the proportion of respondents who signed up with their retailers at a roadshow (7 per cent).

Close to seven in 10 are opting to sign up with their retailer online, said the authority.

This high proportion could be due to the restrictions implemented by the Government since April last year to curb the spread of Covid-19, which prohibit retailers from conducting most physical retailing activities, said EMA.

CONTRACT RENEWALS

The survey found that the number of respondents who automatically renewed with their retailer fell sharply to 28 per cent from 49 per cent reported in last year’s survey.

It also found that those who compared offers before renewing with their retailer rose from 55 per cent to 61 per cent.

Most respondents (73 per cent) used price comparison websites.

“This suggests that consumers have become more discerning and are actively searching for better plans instead of opting to automatically renew their existing plan,” said EMA.

Mr Ngiam Shih Chun, EMA’s chief executive, said the authority encourages consumers to compare retailers’ price plans and their ratings when signing up or renewing their contract to find an offer that best suits their needs.