Senoko Power favours further opening up of electricity market
By Jeana Wong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 16 August 2006 2301 hrs

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SINGAPORE : Allowing households and smaller businesses to choose their electricity supplier will be a key step in the liberalisation of the energy sector.

This is according to Senoko Power during an energy seminar on Wednesday.

Senoko said that its parent Temasek Holdings is still reviewing plans to sell the three power plants it owns.

According to earlier reports, Temasek Holdings is expected to make a decision about the sale of the three power companies - Senoko Power, PowerSeraya and Tuas Power - by the end of the year.

Senoko - the largest power company in Singapore - says the investment firm is still reviewing its options.

Roy Adair, President and CEO, Senoko Power, said: "Temasek is undertaking a review of the potential divestment of the gencos and that review is continuing. Unfortunately I can't tell you anymore than that at this stage. The timeline doesn't - it's business as usual for us."

The 3 power companies produce nearly 90 percent of Singapore's electricity.

And their sale has been on the agenda since 1999 as part of the effort to liberalise Singapore's electricity market.

At the energy seminar, Senoko Power says a further step to opening up the market is to let smaller businesses and regular household consumers choose their own suppliers.

Roy Adair said: "Full retail contestability is about the opening up of the electricity market to the last tranche of customers who are regarded as franchise customers at the moment. So we're very much in favour. We see this as part and parcel of the liberalisation of the market place and full retail contestability will give people in their homes - whether it be an HDB unit, a condominium or a landed property - it will give them the right to decide who their electricity supplier is."

For now, the gencos can only sell direct to industrial and commercial customers, or about 75 per cent of Singapore's electricity marketplace.

And Singapore Power is the only electricity distributor to some one million households here.

The Energy Market Authority is expected to decide by year-end on opening up the electricity market to more suppliers. - CNA/ch