UTILITIES BILLS

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UTILITIES BILLS:

(Number of households in arrears): 2.

Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) how many households are currently in arrears of their water and electricity bills for more than three months; (b) how many households are on the Pay-as-You-Use (PAYU) scheme; and (c) whether he will provide an update on the pilot project that was started to help households keep tabs on their energy consumption.

The Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr S Iswaran) (for the Minister for Trade and Industry): Mr Speaker, Sir, as at November 2008, there were 3,099 household accounts with outstanding arrears of more than three months in their utilities bills. This comprised 0.28% of all household accounts.

As at November 2008, there were 13,262 households on the PAYU scheme,

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of which nearly half were from the one and two-room HDB flats.

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) has embarked on the pilot project known as the Electricity Vending System (or EVS) since July 2007. By integrating smart metering technologies and the existing e-Payment infrastructure, the EVS not only allows consumers to monitor their electricity usage, but also to choose and purchase electricity from competing electricity retailers.

Field tests of the prototype EVS are now being done with selected residents in Marine Parade whose units have been installed with smart meters. The technical viability of the system will be tested through this pilot project. From February 2009, EMA will be further conducting a "live" trial of the system, involving residents volunteers in Marine Parade and West Coast to enable EMA to gather feedback from these households. The trial is targeted for completion by the third-quarter of 2009. And feedback from the trial run will enable EMA to evaluate the feasibility of wide-scale implementation of the system.

Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong): Sir, as the economic situation is worsening and utilities is a very basic necessity, I think it is important that SP Services exercises greater flexibility and be less forceful in pushing for arrears of utilities because there will be families whose breadwinner would have lost their job although there would be reduction in household income. I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether he can comment on that and whether there is anything MTI can do, although I know that you must look at it from a commercial angle but utilities is, if I were to repeat, a very basic necessity.

Mr Iswaran: Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the Member raises an important point which I think all of us are very familiar with. As we are quite well aware, SP

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Services does not terminate utilities or enforce its rights precipitously. There is normally a process. Usually it is only in the more egregious cases either because of an individual account which has not negotiated a proper payment plan or having negotiated such a plan and not honoured it, that is when they then move on to exercise their right. Having said that, I think we are mindful of this. Just to give Members some indication. In November last year, notwithstanding the higher tariff rates and

the general economic conditions, in fact, the number of accounts in arrears was actually lower than in previous months. In part, it is also due to the fact that we have the Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates and these have been helping our residents cope significantly with their utilities bills. So I think that will continue to be a feature in the current year. As Members know, there are still some U-Save rebates to be paid out this year, and that will be quite helpful to our residents.

Also, if we look at PAYU, which is another indication of whether people are in distress in meeting their utilities accounts, the number of accounts on PAYU scheme has been more or less stable for the last 12 to 14 months or so. It has been relatively stable. So, on the ground, people seem to be managing. Yes, there are some cases of distress, and when they approach their MPs, we can assist them. In the meantime, SP Services is also exercising some level of restraint but with due regard to their commercial objective.

Mdm Cynthia Phua (Aljunied): Sir, could the Senior Minister of State consider tapping on the volunteers to be trained and provide guidance to our tenants and lessees in these one and two-room flats, because about 13,200 of them are actually in the PAYU scheme, and 50% are from the one and two-room flats? So from my experience, lessees of one or two-room flats always –

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Mr Speaker: Come to your question, Mdm Phua.

Mdm Cynthia Phua: They always pick up old refrigerators, which use up a lot of energy.

Mr Iswaran: Mr Speaker, Sir, if I understand the Member's question correctly, it is whether we can have SP Services and agencies work with volunteers to counsel those who are on PAYU on their electricity consumption. The answer is definitely yes.

In fact, NEA has also been putting up quite a lot of information on how people can be more resource conscious in the way they expend, whether it is water or electricity and so on. And EMA is also a part of that effort in terms of electricity. So, if there is a desire to work with the agencies on information that can be then disseminated in a more direct manner, this is something that EMA will be very happy to work with Members on.

Ms Ellen Lee (Sembawang): Sir, the Senior Minister of State mentioned that residents who have problems could approach MPs for help. But I would like to inform him that apparently this is not working these days. With PAYU, residents can use the card to top-up, but for gas and water, they cannot top-up themselves. Whatever little payments that residents want to make are not being accepted by SP Services.

I just had a case last night where disconnection had already taken place. Despite making a payment of $250 this morning, SP Services still did not want to reconnect. This is causing difficulty, because even after going to an MP, SP Services is not budging. So, where else can the resident go, if an MP cannot help?

Mr Iswaran: Mr Speaker, Sir, in terms of assistance that can be rendered to residents, as we are aware, MPs are one-

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channel in terms of submitting representations on their behalf. There are also schemes available through CDCs and so on, in terms of financial help. Also, in terms of the U-Save schemes, what a person gets in a U-Save rebate can be used flexibly. In other words, he does not have to necessarily use it all for electricity. He can use it for water or gas and then work out a scheme with SP Services on the residual amount for electricity.

The Member has raised some specific instances. If she would like to surface them directly, we can have a look at it and see if there is something more that can be done. But I want to stress that SP Services, at the end of the day, is a private entity. They are exercising restraint and I think they are quite aware of the circumstances, but we also have to be aware of their commercial imperative.