7% electricity tariff rise undesirable, survey told

[Press Release – 2012.11.08] Do you think 5% increase in electricity tariff is reasonable? We commissioned the Energy and Environmental Policy Research Unit of City University Hong Kong to conduct a telephone survey in September 2012 about the public perception of future tariff rise in Hong Kong.

‧20% of respondents disagreed with a proposed increase by 5% in electricity tariff.
‧Over 60% disagreed with 7% tariff rise and

the percentage of disagreement increases to 80% when the proposed rise is 9%.We concludes that the public tends to accept a tariff rise that is closed to or slightly above the current inflation rate (3.9%). To strike a balance between the expectation of the public and power companies on tariff adjustment next year, we suggests the HK government to set up a Natural Gas Stabilization Fund to reduce the public’s financial burden on the surging fuel costs, which is the most significant factor contributed to tariff increase.