As homeowners, most of us are always looking to save on costs where possible. After all, living in Singapore certainly isn’t cheap! And one of the most common culprits of increases in monthly expenses lie in the form of utilities, especially our electrical bill. The bulk of our monthly electrical usage typically lies in our usage of air conditioning, which is essentially a need at this point given Singapore’s sweltering hot weather.
Some of us might remember that back in November 2018, the Energy Market Authority launched the Open Electricity Market (OEM), which allowed households and small businesses to choose their electricity retailer from a range of options, rather than being limited to the regulated tariff from SP Group. Ever since then, various electricity retailers have entered the market, competing to gain market share through various offerings of promos and customised plans that also benefit us by way of cheaper electricity rates.
While there are only 10 retailers left today – which is a far cry from the height of 26 licensed retailers back in 2021 – the good news is that they are still offering various promos to entice potential customers and retain existing ones, and one such promotion is the offering of an off-peak rate for home electricity plans.
What’s the difference between fixed plans and off-peak plans?
Image credit: Senoko Energy
As its name suggests, off-peak plans are essentially differentiated rates for using electricity at different times of the day. What is defined as off-peak is really up to retailers; some would set it according to certain hours of the day, while others might peg it to the weekend instead, or a combination of both.
By default, households buy electricity from the main state-owned electricity supplier SP Group at the regulated tariff rates which, at the time of writing, is at 30.03 cents/kWh. This is a fixed rate that is published on the SP Group website, and is reviewed regularly. As a homeowner, you can either choose to stick with SP Group by default, or opt for any of the electricity retailers in the market.
Meanwhile, the retailers often provide a range of options for you to consider, offering rates based on how long a plan you sign with them for, as well as any special provisions such as off-peak rates.
What are the options available?
Image credit: Geneco
Geneco, which is one of the most popular electricity retailers on the market, is currently offering both a fixed plan as well as an off-peak plan. Their fixed rate plan ranges from 27.00 cents/kWh for a short 6-month contract, right up to 28.67 cents/kWh for a 12-month contract.
On the other hand, they also offer differentiated rates for electricity usage; Geneco defines the off-peak period to be from 7pm-7am, which will incur a rate of just 20.00 cents/kWh which is considerably cheaper than the national rate set by SP Group. However, charges for the peak period (7am-7pm) are at 36.95 cents/kWH, which is considerably higher than the national rate. As you can tell, the variance with their fixed rate is also quite high; you’re paying just 5 cents per kWh cheaper during the off-peak, but the supposed peak period of 7am-7pm is a whopping 11.95 cents more expensive!
Image credit: PacificLight
Another electricity retailer offering differentiated rates is PacificLight. For them, off-peak is defined as 9pm-9am instead, and the rate they are offering is at quite a low 16.08 cents/kWh, which is probably the cheapest in the market right now. However, peak period timing (9am-9pm) is at 37.50 cents/kWh, which also makes it the most expensive retailer out there.
Interestingly, they also have another customised plan called “Save While Sleeping”, which offers 16.90 cents/kWh from the wee hours of 11pm-7am (when most of us will likely be sleeping) and 34.88 cents/kWh for the main peak period of 7am-11pm.
Image credit: Senoko Energy
For Senoko Energy, their differentiated rate plan shows a rate of 36.95 cents/kWh for the peak period (defined by them as 7am-11pm), and 20.05 cents/kWh for the off peak period of 11pm-7am. They of course have several fixed plans as well, with different rates depending on the contract duration you sign with them.
Image credit: Keppel Electric
Keppel Electric is the newest electricity retailer to offer an off-peak pricing plan, with the launch of their 24-month “Weekend Saver” time-of-use plan earlier in October. It is one of the more unique plans out there, because apart from just fixing the off-peak and peak hours during the day, they also created a tier just for the weekend!
According to their website, the weekday peak period is defined as 9am-9pm, with a rate of 32.90 cents/kWh while the off peak (9pm-9am) is at just 23.90 cents/kWh. They also consider entire weekends to be considered off-peak.
Which plan would save me more money: fixed or differentiated?
The short answer is: it depends. There is no one answer for everyone, because how much savings you can get from one plan to another is largely determined by your lifestyle.
However, we did do the math, and it seems that if you take a standard consumption volume across 24 hours, a fixed rate will be cheaper than a variable rate. In order to save on these off-peak rates, you might have to shift some of your consumption habits to these timings, and significantly decrease your usage on the peak timings.
Take for instance your working habits. Are you heading into the office every single day of the week, leaving no one at home during the day? If that’s the case, then having off-peak rates might actually be favourable for you. Most of us tend to leave home in the early morning to be in the office by around 8am or 9am, and by the time we get home it’ll be at least 7pm.
In this case, having a differentiated plan like Geneco’s will be advantageous because your electricity usage will drop significantly so that you won’t incur the high peak rates of 36.95 cents/kWH during 7am-7pm. You can then do most of the heavy-usage activities, such as air conditioning, TV, and so on in the evenings to enjoy the off-peak rates. The complication comes when you have a flexible schedule to work from home on some days…
Of course, as we’ve mentioned earlier, one option is to also change up your lifestyle patterns to these off-peak timings. For example, you can shift your usage of energy-intensive activities such as laundry, air-conditioning, or charging appliances to off-peak hours, so as to save some costs.
One other factor to consider are the weekends. If you’re the kind who loves to laze around at home or leave major household chores like cleaning to the weekend, then bear in mind the time you’re home on the weekend, because you will then be subject to the peak rates.
In this case, a plan like Keppel Electric’s Weekend Saver might be more useful, because then you get to enjoy the weekday off-peak rates of 23.90 cents (which is slightly more expensive than Geneco’s 20 cents) during the entire weekend. Keppel Electric’s peak rate of 32.90 cents is also slightly cheaper than Geneco’s 36.95 cents, though you have to take note that the peak timing for Keppel is 9am-9pm. The off-peak window shifts to a little later in the evening to start only at 9pm, so that might not fit in well with your lifestyle habits (e.g. families with young children).
Unless you’re mining cryptocurrency at home, the main electricity consumer in the home would be the airconditioning. And let’s be honest, most of us will use it given how hot Singapore is, even at night. In this case, a plan like Senoko Energy’s is worth considering, because their off-peak rates kick in from 11pm-7pm, which is more or less when most of us tend to wind down for the night and go to sleep. Of course, this plan will also benefit those operating on a totally different work schedule from the typical 9 to 5, such as those working with overseas markets or multinational companies.
Monitor your electricity consumption patterns
One way to help plan out whether going for a fixed or differentiated plan is more worth it is to start tracking your electricity consumption patterns.
For most of us, we can already do it as SP Group has installed smart electricity meters to at least 80% of households in Singapore. These smart meters will allow you to track your half-hourly electricity usage and to determine your patterns of usage, via the SP app. If you’re still unable to do so, then you’ll just have to wait a bit. SP Group will complete the nationwide deployment of smart meters by the end of 2026.
This Redditor gets it!
Image credit: Reddit
Once you’re able to do so, you can then monitor your patterns of usage and see what works best. In fact, you just might find that being on a fixed plan is cheaper than a variable one, because for some, peak rates (especially on the weekend) are considerably higher than a fixed rate, and the savings you get for off-peak might not be enough to offset the difference.
Read more about other cost saving tips for your utilities:
- Senoko Energy’s New LifeSteady Plan Guarantees More Savings On Your Electricity Bill, Get Free Robot Vacuum On Sign-Up
- 9 Hacks That Helped These Homeowners Pay Under $60 For Utilities For Over Half A Year
- 9 Aircon Hacks To Help You Save On Utilities Bills & Keep Your Unit Cooler For Longer
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