Singapore Number 2 in Raising Electricity Tariffs

cannot reduce tarrif because profit will drop.
Raise price then GDP can increase.
Each ministry must maintain high prices so that GDP can be maintained.
Why? Variable bonus of top civil servants tied to GDP mah - you didn't know meh?
That is why HDB prices are market based, not cost based.
Someone should work out - with a person earning $1200, buying our public housing for the first time in Jurong, after paying all the HDB loans and interest, how much in the CPF would he have for retirement?
Or should he jump into MRT first?
Oh, no wonder Minister of Health is now promoting Euthanasia.
Lesser govt expenditure on heath care - his bonus higher mah.

In the straits times today - he indicated that Capitalism and the way he run the USA economy failed. Fantastic, this after the failure of communism.

I hope the pegging of pay to GDP will also be discontinued as it leads to untold consequences and misery on the people. High bills, poor transport system, high cost of flat etc etc

singapore govt knows best !!

wow.. chill edmund. i admit that i did not do much research on the matter and that i'm not accountancy trained, but let's not get too worked up.
firstly, the price of natural gas is inextricably linked to the price of oil, both being energy resources. as oil prices rise, so does the price of natural gas.
secondly, my point on infrastructure costs being high. i've just read that we've had to spend billions on an lng terminal. i'm not sure where the money is coming from, but it just emphasizes my point that infrastructure costs are atronomical in this industry. do we already possess all the infrastructure needs? i'm not so sure.
thirdly, it seems that you've merely sidestepped the dividends issue. if money is not taken out, then it is still in the company, probably for infrastructure costs.
lastly, the power industry is not completely privatised. on the contrary, like many industries in sg, it is highly regulated. the enron debacle resulted from poor corporate regulation in the us. it is highly unlikely a similar thing could occur in sg. it's merely my opinion, but i am legally trained.

wow, this is "good news" to our gov, they like statistics of this nature. It showed the world that Singapore has what it takes to be like the top cities, like New York & London.

First world, indeed!

More good years...

the billions used was not for research into solar power or anything -

it was used to pun on power gen in other countries. Thus do not be misled to think that the money is still in the company to serve the Singapore people

can you substantiate your claims with references or even a link to a reliable source?

Just a simple word to describe them !GREEDY!

Dear Jack,

perhaps you are legally trained, but you might want to pay attention to what's happening in the futures market and brush up on your economics. Natural prices are "inextricably" linked to oil prices, but it's still a substitute for oil. The price for natural gas is significantly cheaper than oil, and if you've been paying attention, oil prices have dropped significantly for the past week or so, based on the assumption that oil consumption will drop drastically in the future.


Why in the world are you aruging about shareholder profits and infrastructural costs as the same time? If Sing Power is concerned mainly about profits and shareholder value, then it should be treated as a corporate entity separate from the government. If it is to be treated like a corporate entity, why should anyone be concerned about infrastructural costs and why should its customers pay for such things? The company should pay for such developments from its own coffers. If you want to argue that Sing Power has strong government links and should be considered a government linked entity, then should not its top concern be providing a service to the populace, rather than care for its profit line?

Might want to rethink your argument, Jack the legally trained person.

the people in here aren't rather polite...
mercia:
sarcasm aside. the tariffs were raised even before the current fall in prices in commodities. moreover, the price of natural gas moves in tandem with the price of oil, substitute or otherwise. in any case, price of oil is largely affected by the decisions of the opec cartel, and we could well see prices rising again.
secondly, there isn't a simplistic model between a purely corporate entity and a government one. even if sing power were to be understood as a simple corporate entity, which it is not, clearly it has to weigh in infrastructure costs in its corporate decisions. and even if it were a wholly government entity, which clearly it isn't, it would have to consider future costs in deciding what to charge consumers now.
my question is, are the shareholders really gaining by the increase in electricity prices? (which we would think unreasonable) or are they merely to offset increase in costs of energy and for costs of infrastructure? (which would be reasonable) the answer to these questions are the important ones.