Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting did not consider relief measures for household electricity users, a source at Government House revealed.
The move was left off the agenda despite an earlier government pledge to soften impacts from rising fuel prices. However, the source speculated that power-bill relief measures would be discussed at next week’s Cabinet meeting.
Last week, Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said the Energy Policy Administration Committee that he chairs approved discounts for household electricity users amid a record rise in the cost of electricity. Over the next four months, the price of electricity will soar from 4 baht per unit to a record high of 4.72 baht.
The discounts, which are expected to last from September to December, will see electricity bills for households that use less than 500 units per month cut by between 15 to 75 per cent.
Households that use less than 300 units per month will get a discount of 0.9204 baht per unit, equivalent to the average fuel tariff (Ft) imposed this year.
The Ft is reviewed every four months, in January, May, and September by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), which adjusts its value to reflect the actual cost of generating electricity.
Supattanapong estimated the discounts will cost the government around 2 billion baht per month or 8 billion baht over the four months.
Published : August 30, 2022
By : THE NATION