Hongkongers to pay nearly 1% more for electricity next year

City’s two power companies increase charges after prices cut by as much as 16 per cent last year

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Workers on an electricity tower near Shatin Pass Road. Hong Kong’s two electricity companies have announced increases in rates, beginning in January 2025. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 6:15pm, 19 Nov 2024Updated: 10:04pm, 19 Nov 2024

Hongkongers will have to pay nearly 1 per cent more for electricity next year, the city’s two power companies have said, after cutting prices by as much as 16 per cent last year.

Residential bills for CLP Power’s customers would increase from January by 0.98 per cent compared with a year ago while those for HK Electric users would rise by 0.9 per cent, the companies revealed on Tuesday.

CLP Power, which serves Kowloon, the New Territories and Lantau Island, said it would increase its basic tariff by 1.44 per cent to 98 HK cents per kilowatt-hour (13 US cents per kWh) and keep its fuel charge unchanged at 46.3 cents per kWh, resulting in an overall increase of 0.98 per cent.

HK Electric, which serves Hong Kong Island and several outlying islands, said it would increase its basic rate by 2.8 per cent to 122.9 cents per kWh. However, it would cut the fuel charge to 44.1 cents per kWh, down 4.1 per cent due to stabilising fuel prices. That amounts to an overall increase of 0.9 per cent compared with this month’s prices.

“Although international fuel prices are currently stable, fuel prices remain relatively high,” Francis Cheng Cho-ying, managing director of HK Electric, told a Legislative Council panel on Tuesday.

He added that the energy providers needed to revamp and replace old generating units to ensure a stable and reliable supply in the event of extreme weather, which were happening more frequently.