Electricity bills to rise 35% in Thailand

Government blames costly liquefied natural gas for tariff hike.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand expects the electricity tariff will hit US$0.17 per kilowatt hour, on par with Singapore, in two years due to the rising price of LNG.

EGAT Governor Sutat Patmasiriwat said imports of costly LNG are a major reason for the projected increase in the power tariff from an average of US$0.12 per kWh at present.

He said using gas from domestic sources costs US$0.10 per kWh for power generation compared to US$0.19 per kWh for imported LNG. Production of local gas, however, has peaked and is falling, paving the way for imported LNG to play a larger role in power production.

Thailand relies on gas for up to 70% of power generation, up from 60% a decade ago. Attempts to move away from LNG in power generation have failed due mainly to protests from local communities and environmental activists over plans to build nuclear power plants as an alternative to expensive LNG.