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Homeowners in Singapore, take note: Your monthly electricity bill might skyrocket for one month and it will be the one thing that will shock you in your well-insulated home.
This was exactly what one Sembcorp Power customer received: A S$1,016.39 bill for the month of July 2020.
More expensive than full year's bill
The man, Chai See Yin, shared his bill on the Complaint Singapore Facebook group on Aug. 25.
He pointed out that his bill for July was more than his combined electricity bill for the whole year.
The bill reflected that he had to pay between S$27.89 and S$74.68 per month over the past 12 months.
Chai wrote that he lives in a two-room flat with three persons.
SP Group will verify
In response to media queries, Sembcorp Industries' Head of Consumer Business (Singapore) said verification of the household's readings against its billings with SP Group will be done in cases such as Chai's.
SP Group does all on-site meter readings even though the household's electricity provider might be different.
The spokesperson also said some customers have also observed heftier electricity bills and there are reasons for it.
The spokesperson explained: "On the whole, household electricity consumption could have possibly increased during the circuit breaker period where a majority of the population were required to be home-bound."
The warmer weather could have led to an increase in fan or air-conditioner usage at home.
Meter reading service resumed
SP Group suspended its meter reading service in April due to the Covid-19 situation.
Household electricity bills during this time and subsequent months were estimated based on the individual household's previous consumption data.
With the resumption of on-site meter readings by SP Group since June using cumulative meters, certain households would have received higher bills due to the differences in their eventual electricity consumption, the spokesperson said.
This explanation goes some way in shedding light on the vast increase in costs seemingly overnight.
SP Group has explained this phenomenon of higher electricity bills in a post on Aug. 1:
Normally, SP's meter readers visit your premises to record your electricity, water and gas usage every alternate month. You would have been billed based on your actual meter reading for one month and estimated reading for the following month.
During the Circuit Breaker period, meter reading was suspended. Your consumption for this period was estimated based on your average daily consumption, as calculated from your last two meter readings.
If your meters were read in March, your consumption for April, May and June was estimated, and adjusted when your meters were read again in July.
If you see a spike in your current bill, this is because of the cumulative under-estimated amounts that have been added to reflect your actual consumption for the past few months.
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