It looks as if this Singapore
Government is desparate for more cash even before the 2% increase
in GST has reached it full year.
Now it seems that despite Temasek having to sell off three power
generating companies in its stable of subsidiaries, this Government
is planning another scam to get Singaporeans to pay up-front into
some Cash Card scheme, and lock up more of Singaporean's savings
into individual cash card that will allow the Cash Card operator
the use of the fund first, before these are digitally accounted
into the various folders from user to service provider.
Billions will be locked up in Cash Cards used for the proposed new
Electricity Usage Payment Scam, much like the amount of money that
is kept in the Cash Cards in our ERP devices.
It is totally ingenious to compare this new scam with the existing
services provided by different mobile phone operators - as even the
pre-paid phone cards will have already money being paid to the
various Telcos before the user will actually spend the amount for
the calls made.
Artile extracted from
Channel News Asia
New pilot system may result in cheaper
electricity for consumers
By Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 18
October 2007 2148 hrs
SINGAPORE: The way you pay your electricity bills will soon be very
much like topping up a pre-paid card.
This is possible under a S$3 million pilot scheme that allows small
consumers such as households to switch between electricity
retailers.
In fact, consumers will only pay for electricity as and when they
need it.
Over the next 2 years, the market regulator will be piloting this
new system, known as the Electricity Vending System (EVS), that
aims at opening up competition in the market for households and
small businesses.
Under the EVS, which has not been tried anywhere else in the world,
small consumers are free to choose the various service packages
offered by different retailers.
There is no monthly bill. Instead, consumers top up credits on a
pre-paid card.
This is unlike the current scheme, in which consumers buy
electricity from only one service provider - SP Services - where
consumers get a bill each month and pay for how much they have
used.
There are about 1.2 million small consumers in Singapore, most of
them households. They account for a quarter of the total
electricity demand here.
The rest are consumers which use at least 10,000 kilowatts each
month. The market for these bigger consumers has been liberalised
since 2003.
"Under the new vending system, there should be more choices for
consumers - from whom they want to buy electricity, ... to how much
energy they want to use a day," explained Khoo Chin Hean, chief
executive of Singapore's Energy Market Authority (EMA).
"And if they prefer to stick to the current system of buying
electricity from SP Services and paying a monthly bill, that's also
an option too."
EMA added that the new system will also reduce the hassle and
administrative costs of applying and paying for electricity.
EMA said initial trials will involve technical tests that include
placing a Smart Meter outside the home, to track the amount of
electricity used at different times of the day. The meter will also
tell consumers how much credit they are left with.
EMA will test the Smart Meter on 200 households and small
businesses starting next month.
Some consumers are already looking forward to the scheme, saying
that it will give them more options. "Just like mobile phone, if
they can give me a better price, then I will opt for the better
provider," said a consumer.
"Actually it will be more useful for the household, because I think
it will make the occupants more aware or more conscious of the use
of electricity."
Meanwhile, other consumers are weary of the new system. "I think
that it's even more hassle, more trouble," said another consumer.
"I have to check how much I have left, in order not to be cut off
from the electricity."
This raises another concern - what happens if credit runs out and
consumers are caught unaware?
"We are also looking into various payment schemes to enable them to
pay and to restore the electricity in a very short time," assured
Khoo. "For example, we are also considering the possibility that
one can use one's handphone to buy electricity."
EMA added that it will look into a system that will give consumers
ample warning before credit runs out.
There are currently five electricity vendors in Singapore - Keppel
Electricity, SembCorp Power, Tuas Power, Senoko Energy and
PowerSeraya.
No details are immediately available on how these retailers will
package their services, but the regulator said that it will ensure
competition is not undermined.
"EMA does not regulate the packages that retailers put out, for a
simple reason - this is something best left to retailers, and this
also creates room for them to innovate," explained Khoo.
However, EMA will keep an eye on the retailers and see that there
are no practices in the industry which undermines competition, Khoo
added.
- CNA/yb
