He said it at the event titled “The Next Thailand’s Future” held at Bangkok’s Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.
According to Supattanapong, the cost of electricity is now 4.72 baht for residential use and 5.33 baht for industrial use.
The cost of producing natural gas is likely to decrease, therefore the energy bill shouldn’t go up any further, he said.
According to him, the ministry’s decision to keep power costs the same for the residential and commercial sectors attempts to lessen the effects of the economic downturn on industrial operators.
He continued by saying that the ministry had given the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and other relevant organizations the go-ahead to keep the price of electricity where it is.
The ministry’s ability to manage the effects of the rising fuel tariff (FT) on the energy bill was also affirmed by Supattanapong.
The FT was recently increased by the ERC board to 98 satang per unit, which might increase the residential sector’s power rate to 4.75 baht per unit.
“We must make sure that the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand [Egat] will not be impacted by the rising FT,” he added, adding that Egat must receive up to 130 billion baht in compensation for absorbing the FT.
When the nation’s exports aren’t doing well, he continued, “We have to take care of the home sector’s cost of living as well as the industrial sector.
