US Senate · Financial Times · Thai Enquirer
Hidden Public Electricity Costs in Household Bills Spark Calls for Reform
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Thai households have been paying for streetlights, highway lighting and other public electricity use through their power bills for years, prompting the government and a Senate committee to push for reforms after officials revealed the costs exceed 10 billion baht annually and are largely hidden from consumers.
Key facts
- The Transport Ministry has already begun replacing aging streetlights with LED bulbs, which could cut electricity consumption by 40-50%, but Phiphat said his ministry could not absorb the full cost because the annual expense exceeds 10
- The committee estimated that of the average electricity tariff of 4.18 baht per unit, around 50-90 satang, or 12-22%, consists of hidden costs arising from government policies and structural issues in the power sector.
- Energy Minister Akanat Promphan said the public has a right to know that the cost of public lighting has been folded into electricity charges paid by households
- Energy Ministry spokesman Pongpol Yodmuangcharoen said the cost passed on to consumers has increased over time, from about 4 satang per unit in 2015 to 7 satang in 2019, and is projected to reach 10 satang per unit this year.
Summary
Energy Minister Akanat Promphan said the public has a right to know that the cost of public lighting has been folded into electricity charges paid by households. He said authorities are reviewing the system and plan to install separate meters and accounting records to clearly identify electricity consumed by government-owned lighting infrastructure.
According to Akanat, consumers have unknowingly borne more than 10 billion baht a year in public lighting costs. He argued that classifying electricity used for highway and street lighting as system losses and spreading the expense across all electricity users was inappropriate.