BANGKOK, Thailand – Households using 200 units of electricity or less per month will pay no more than 3 baht per unit from September to December.
The Energy Regulatory Commission also cut the base tariff for all users by 6 satang per unit. The reason: public street lighting costs are no longer included in the tariff.
New cap for low-usage households
The new measure covers residential households with a monthly consumption of up to 200 units. They will pay no more than 3 baht per unit in that range.
The cap applies to the base tariff only. The automatic electricity price adjustment (Ft) and VAT are not included.
Street lighting removed from base tariff
The commission removed the cost of street lighting nationwide from the base tariff for all user groups. That shaves 6 satang off each unit.
These costs had been carried by electricity customers as a hidden component for 30 years, according to the commission. The annual burden came to 18 billion baht.
Lower rates for higher usage too
For households using 201 to 400 units a month, the tariff drops from 4.22 baht to 4.15 baht per unit. That is also a cut of 6 satang.
For consumption of 400 units or more, the tariff falls from 4.41 baht to 4.35 baht per unit.
New funding sources for street power
The commission plans to fund public electricity supply from additional sources in the future. It has amended the law and rules of the Electricity Development Fund.
Money will come from data centers, direct power purchase agreements, a reduction in additional feed-in tariffs, and community solar projects. These funds will be used to lower the cost of public electricity supply.
Three power authorities to implement the decision
The Energy Regulatory Commission will forward its decision to the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, the Provincial Electricity Authority, and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. These three power authorities will then implement the change.
The new amounts apply to electricity bills from September to December.