The fuel tariff (Ft) in monthly electricity bills from May to August will be trimmed by 28.49 satang a kilowatt-hour (unit) or 7.7% because of a decline in power-generating costs, says the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Viraphol Jirapraditkul, an ERC member and spokesman, said Wednesday regulators had approved an average electricity rate of 3.42 baht per unit, down from 3.70 baht.
The latest cut in the FT charges is the sixth in a row and the lowest since the tariff rate base was used as a formula for calculating electricity bills in 1992.
Mr Viraphol said major factor for the drop was the price of natural gas, which constitutes about 64% of total power-generating cost, which had declined in line with the price of bunker oil in the past six to 18 months. Also, budget spending under the feed-in-tariff (FiT) and adder tariff subsidy programme was far lower than expected after the termination of contracts by private developers of alternative-fuel-generated electricity.
A slightly stronger baht also accounted for the drop. The ERC forecasts an 8.46% increase in power demand for the May-August period.