The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) plans to raise the electricity fee to the all-time high rate of about five baht per unit from September to December because of the expensive price of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the unexpectedly low supply of natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand.
A source at the ERC office said the commission was considering the electricity fee for the period from September to December and was likely to raise it by 0.90-1.00 baht per unit.
Consequently, the electricity fee might increase to almost five baht per unit in the last four months of this year. The ERC office would announce the new electricity fee in either late July or early August.
The fuel tariff (FT) in the electricity fee will increase because the cost of LNG that is imported to fuel electricity generation in place of lower natural gas supplies from the Gulf of Thailand has reached US$30 per million BTU, up from about US$20 per million BTU. Baht depreciation is another cause of the expected FT rise.
Besides, the ERC might have to gradually increase FT to help the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand which already spent over 80 billion baht to subsidize the electricity fee for people, the source said. (TNA)
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