As we adjust to the new normal of working from home with no guarantee that our pre-pandemic normalcy would ever return, there is a rising concern regarding surging energy consumption rates in Singapore, which rose by 16% last year. Inherently, this concern is tied with the consequent damage that the environment could incur in the form of increased carbon emissions, forcing the powers that be to tailor its strategy with regards to the energy market. With the government facing the seemingly dichotomous pressures of meeting the increased demand while achieving its goal of reducing its peak carbon emissions in 2030 by 2050, this creates opportunities for new players and market strategies to come into play.
Evidently, the recently announced plan by the government to import electricity from Malaysia for a trial period is a great step in facilitating greater use and exchange of clean energy regionally. While Singapore has “ample spare capacity” to generate more electricity on its own, this bilateral agreement serves to be a testing ground for a larger move towards improving regional infrastructure for upscaling renewable energy production. Such a move would open Singapore’s Open Electricity Market (OEM) to more regional importers and inevitably pressure major electricity retailers to become more price-competitive and environmentally conscious – since the nationwide rollout of the OEM in 2018, almost half of Singapore’s 1.4 million household consumers have switched to an electricity retailer instead of continuing to buy electricity from SP Group. Fortunately, due to a host of demand and supply factors in fuel production as well as the “difference between electricity consumption forecasts and actual consumption”, the SP group has announced that the electricity tariff for the next three months will fall by 3.1% for the first 3 months of 2021 compared with the quarter before.
As the crowded OEM continues to see brands clamouring to stake a claim in the electricity sector’s ever-growing pie, a relatively new entrant, Union Power, has wired a powerful game plan to shake up the market. As a subsidiary of the 43-year-old household name Union Energy, Singapore’s largest domestic supplier of bottled-gas, the family-owned firm is leveraging on its extensive network which cuts across a smorgasbord of businesses, government bodies and households in Singapore, to charge ahead of Union Power’s competitors. Determined to “provide energy for a brighter tomorrow”, Union Power is pioneering innovative green energy solutions as sustainability begins to take root in Singapore’s post-Covid recovery plans – the young brand will soon become one of the first retailers to bring thin-film solar panels, which boast greater efficiency in offsetting carbon emissions, utilisation of roof space and lower installation cost, into the local market.
Currently dominating the scene with the most competitive tariff rates, attractive bill rebates and promotions, there’s no doubt Union Power has been instrumental in changing the OEM landscape since its inception in 2017. Their ambition to provide accessible and affordable means to switch to renewable energy via Union Solar has been met with a generally positive sentiment. The trick up their sleeves? Affordable pricing plans and a hassle-free installation process. Even switching to solar panels is a painless ordeal, 4 easy steps and voilà, you earn bragging rights for being environmentally-friendly! It only makes sense that a 4.5-star rating from Energy Market Authority’s Customer Satisfaction Survey was awarded to Union Power, with a 93.5% customer retention rate, showing that anyone who switches to Union Power would not be disappointed.
Hard-wired for growth and success, Union Power has quickly expanded from an 8-man team to a team of almost 30 in just three years. Given the burgeoning local demand for green energy and price sensitivity for commodity prices, there is no doubt that Union Power is well on its way to becoming an industry leader in a rapidly expanding electricity market.
