Entering the hot summer, many citizens rely on air-conditioning to cool down, but electricity bills have quietly increased, adding pressure to their wallets.
The newly updated June fuel adjustment fee for the two power companies continued to be adjusted upwards, but the increase finally eased slightly.
The fuel cost of HK Electric in June soared to 47.7 cents, a surge of 74.7% in just half a year, and the gas welding cost of CLP also recorded an increase of nearly 17%.
Assuming that a typical three-person household consumes 275 kWh of electricity per month, HK Electric users will have to pay about RMB 56 more in electricity bills next month than at the beginning of the year, while CLP users will have to pay about RMB 19 more.
From next month, a new round of government electricity subsidy will be injected into the account. In the next year, the household accounts of the two electricity companies will receive a subsidy of at least 80 yuan per month, which can offset some of the pressure on electricity bills caused by rising fuel costs.
Some groups are worried that the government's continued subsidies may constitute the illusion of encouraging more electricity consumption, and urged the authorities to launch an electricity tariff subsidy scheme linked to electricity consumption.
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The fuel price clause charges reflect changes in fuel prices, and are paid by users to the power company in the form of actual reimbursement. The two power companies have adjusted their fuel costs since March.
Among them, the annual fuel adjustment fee for HK Electric users was 27.3 cents, which has been increased to 47.7 cents in June. Although the monthly increase was slightly moderate, it has soared by 74.7% compared with the beginning of the year, which is also 2 cents higher than that of CLP.
Calculated in terms of net electricity charges per kWh, HK Electric charges 135.3 cents per kWh, and will increase to 155.7 cents next month, a 15.1% increase from the beginning of the year.
HK Electric explained last month that due to the earlier ban on coal exports from Indonesia, recent geopolitics and other market factors, international coal and natural gas prices have been extremely volatile and have continued to remain at a very high level. cost pressure.
The annual fuel adjustment fee for CLP customers is 38.6 sen and will be adjusted to 45.1 sen in June, an increase of about 16.8%.
CLP explained that among the fuel mix, coal has the largest increase, which is 5.4 sen more expensive than the original forecast of 5.5 sen, and natural gas is also slightly more expensive by 1.2 sen from the original forecast of 36.8 sen.
Looking through the information, CLP purchased low-emission coal from Indonesia and the United States, while the natural gas source came from the mainland. natural gas supply through the gas pipeline.
Therefore, CLP's charge per kilowatt-hour has increased from 128.9 cents to 135.4 cents, an increase of about 5%.
The electricity bill will rise slightly next month, and the electricity bill for a three-person household of HK Electric is 56 yuan higher than that at the beginning of the year.
Taking a family of three people (the average monthly electricity consumption is 275 kWh) as an estimate, the electricity bill of CLP users in January this year was 345.15 yuan. Due to the increase in fuel costs, the electricity bill in June has increased to 363.97 yuan, and they have to pay more every month. 18.82 yuan; Hong Kong Electric's electricity bill is 275.06 yuan in January, and has to pay 56.1 yuan more in June, increasing to 331.16 yuan.
However, starting from next month, the government will inject a subsidy of 1,000 yuan in 12 installments into each eligible residential user account of the electricity and electricity consumption. On the first day of each month, a subsidy of 80 yuan will be injected into the account of the residential user of the electricity and electricity, and 120 yuan will be injected in the 12th month. The subsidy, benefiting about 2.8 million residential users, may offset the pressure on price increases brought about by rising fuel costs.
Greenpeace project director Wu Hanlin believes that when the government sets carbon neutrality goals and promotes carbon reduction among citizens, it should launch an electricity tariff subsidy scheme linked to electricity consumption to provide subsidies to users with low electricity consumption.
(File photo/Photo by Zhang Haowei)
Huan Tuan Worry continues to subsidize disguised incentives to use more electricity
Some scholars have previously predicted that due to factors such as the Russian-Ukrainian war, fuel costs, especially natural gas, have continued to rise in the past few months, and it is difficult to see a fall in the short term. In addition, HK Electric generates less power than CLP, and relies on natural gas and coal for power generation. There is also no nuclear power, so the increase is more obvious than that of CLP.
Greenpeace project director Wu Hanlin believes that when the government sets a carbon neutrality target and promotes carbon reduction for the public, it should launch an electricity tariff subsidy scheme linked to electricity consumption to provide subsidies to users with low electricity consumption, which will become an incentive for the public to save electricity. It can relieve difficulties for citizens in need and achieve a win-win situation.
He worries that if the government continues to provide electricity subsidy to all residential users, it may create the illusion of encouraging more electricity consumption.
He also pointed out that the global fuel cost is rising, and it is difficult to avoid the increase in the two electricity systems. To ease the pressure on electricity bills, citizens and businesses must save electricity.
▼On March 26, Hong Kong participated in Earth Hour▼
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