Which electricity plan to choose?

Our Geneco fixed plan contract ends in February 2022. The rate we are enjoying now is $0.1662 kWh ( without GST). The current Geneco fixed plans in the market is $0.2334 kWh ( without GST) . This is a 40% increase in rates. This is a lot! My electricity bills average about $150 per month, a 40% increase is a $60 increase per month.

This is a comparison table on the best fixed plan , best discount off and SP regulated Tariff. 

Updated 31 Oct

A quick summary on the options available to the readers. In Singapore, household residents can choose to buy electricity from three sources.

• Singapore Power under the regulated tariff plan ( regulated by Energy Market Authority)
• Singapore electricity retailers ( Geneco, Keppel electric, Senoko, Pacific light, Tuas power, Sembcorp e.t.c)
• Singapore Power under the wholesale electricity plan

The trades offs between the above are price stability, prices, contracts lock-in and promotions such a credit card discounts or promo codes. 

In my opinion, one should never choose the SP regulated tariffs so i was quite surprised to read on papers that about 50% of households are still on the SP regulated tariffs. Get out of it! Its a low lying sure save money choice.

It was reported in the papers that a very small percentage are on the SP wholesale electricity plan. 

Let us see how wholesale electricity prices compare with the SP regulated tariff and electricity retailer prices in September. 

On the horizontal axis, period refers to the time of the day. 

Period 0 - 0000 to 0030

Period 1 - 0030 to 0100

Period 47 - 2300 to 2330

Period 48 - 2330 to 0000

Chart showing the average whole sale electricity for the Sep 2021

Interesting. More due diligence needed. Expect more future posts on the findings.  Perhaps, i could switch to the SP whole electricity plan when my contract ends. What better period to stress test the SP wholesale electricity plan than now when the natural gas prices are so volatile and expensive, with winter coming!

Click here for updated electricity statistics.

Property Viewings During Covid

My wife has been pestering me to go property viewing with her during these times. A happy wife is a happy life. So i obliged. 

The above table are the latest 1 year transactions based on URA from September 2021 to October 2020 for a particular freehold property. 

As gross yield can be really misleading, I decided to do a simple calculator, taking into account all the fees which we will need to pay.

• Additional buyer stamp duty
• Buyer stamp duty
• Seller stamp duty
• Estimate renovation and furniture
• Commission paid to agent when we sell this property in future
• Commission paid to agent when we rent out this property
• MCST fees
• Interest rates
• Property taxes
• Rental income

We made a few best case assumptions.

• Property never going to be vacant
• No replacement of aircon, lights, fridge , sofa etc for the holding period
• Earned income tax is zero. Meaning only the rental income is included in the income tax.

The calculator used is below and the property used is the one with the smallest size 1000 to1100. sqft.

I used a 10 year holding period for the new property and assumed the property did not appreciate after 10 years. Assuming i took a 30 year loan at 75% loan from the bank with an interest of 1.5%p.a, this is how the series of cashflow is. 

Series of Cashflow

As an investment property, one will have to have the holding power to tahan the first 10 years where the cashflow is negative.

More detailed information on how the above is calculated is found here.

The IRR( returns a year ) is only 0.75%pa.

This is ridiculous to me. I guess the hope would be for the property to appreciate to make the returns. But would interest rates appreciate too to negate the returns?

You can play with the calculator to see the outcomes of different scenarios by adding ABSD based on the number of existing property one has. As of above, the ABSD is $0 based on no existing property holding.

I made my wife an unhappy woman. Unhappy life.