Singapore's electricity retail market has been progressively liberalised since 2001 to provide consumers with a wider range of retail price plans. With the nationwide rollout of the Open Electricity Market (“OEM”) in 2018, all consumers, including householdsand small business consumers, have the option of buying electricity from retailers. Consumers benefitted from greater choice, competitive electricity pricing andinnovative offers, with no change to the reliability of their electricity supply.

However, the onset of the global energy crunch in 4Q2021 resulted in high and volatile wholesale electricity prices in the Singapore Wholesale Electricity Market(“SWEM”), which spilled over and affected the electricity retail market. Independent retailers (“IRs”) were especially affected by the volatile market conditions. As a result, six IRs exited the market and another two prematurely terminated consumers’ contracts. These retailers supplied ~9% of all electricity consumers. Some affected consumers were transferred to SP Group.

While the entry and exit of retailers are features of an open and competitive retail market, the number of exits suggests that some retailers were not sufficiently prepared against market volatilities. In October 2022, the Ministry of Trade andIndustry (MTI) announced that the Energy Market Authority (EMA) would beintroducing guardrails to strengthen the existing competitive market structure and ensure that Singapore is well-positioned to navigate the energy transition. This consultation paper sets out EMA’s proposed enhancements to the regulatory regimefor electricity retailers. The proposed enhancements seek to strengthen the resiliency of all retailers, in particular their ability to withstand market volatility to safeguard the relative stability of the retail market. In developing these enhancements, EMA has calibrated them to ensure that the enhanced regulatory regime continues to facilitate the participation of qualified retailers.