Brace yourselves for electricity bill surges

People should brace themselves for heftier electric bills nex year - over 10 percent from CLP Power and more than 30 percent from HK Electric - amid an energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, a green group leader warned.

The power pair will move on raising prices at a meeting today of the Legislative Council's panel on environmental affairs.

This month has seen CLP's average net tariff rate rise to 14.5 HK cents per unit, which is 13 percent higher than at the start of this year, while HK Electric's has gone up by 38 percent to 18.6 HK cents per unit.

For a three-member household using 275 units of electricity every month November's bill will be around HK$390 for CLP and HK$417 for HKE, up by HK$45 and HK$142 over bills for the same energy usage early this year.

CLP chief corporate development officer Quince Chong Wai-yan said yesterday a hike was inevitable.

"The international fuel prices fluctuate drastically, [and with] the Russia-Ukraine conflict energy supply has been tightening around the world," she said. "Meanwhile, fuel costs have been surging."

William Yu Yuen-ping, chief executive of the World Green Organization, said tariffs will increase further with countries exporting less petroleum and amid the Russian-Ukraine war.

He suggested the SAR ban energy-wasting acts by legislation or encourage people to consume less energy by providing incentives rather than subsidizing bills.

Residents said they had no choice but to accept increases, with one woman remarking: "We have to use electricity even if we hurt just looking at the bill."

The owner of a lighting shop in Wan Chai said his bill has been amounting to about HK$10,000 every month - 10 percent up on last year - so "we'll only turn on the lights when there are customers."

Still, some 150,000 underprivileged families can click for a one-time fuel cost subsidy of at least HK$600, with CLP saying yesterday it will allocate HK$200 million to support the community.

The firm will put HK$100 million into a new CLP fuel cost subsidy program next year to provide the subsidy to some 100,000 needy households and HK$800 to 50,000 tenants of sub-divided flats.

"We understand [the tariff hike] may add burdens to grassroots families," Chong said.

Some HK$5 million will also be set aside for wiring work involved in the installation of individual electricity meters of tenants of sub-divided units.

A subsidy of HK$2,000 will also go to 10,000 families in transitional housing for buying energy-efficient electrical appliances to reduce their living costs.

CLP also supports youngsters from less well-off households with HK$6 million for tablets and data SIM cards for around 1,600 students.