Keppel Electric: Comparison and review of Keppel electricity plans

Since the launch of the Open Electricity Market (OEM) in 2018, one of the most popular electricity retailers is Keppel Electric.

Similar to Sembcorp Power, Keppel is a listed company and a household brand name, so it does seem more trustworthy than "unknown" retailers – e.g. the former iSwitch. And Keppel Electric does offer pretty good prices and promotions, so why not, right?

Let's check out the electricity plans that Keppel Electric has to offer and find out if there's anything you should watch out for.

Keppel Electric plans comparison

Choosing a Keppel Electric plan is pretty straightforward. There are three main types to choose from, with variations in contract duration and price.

Unsurprisingly, Keppel's cheapest plans are the fixed price ones, although the cheapest one has the shorter commitment one. Their previous DOT (discount off tariff) and peak/off-peak KNIGHT plans have since been phased out.

Instead, they have been replaced by the new Keppel ecoGreen 12-month and 24-month plans that are priced at $0.3388/kWh – largely on par with the other green electricity plans out there.

According to their fact sheet, Keppel Electric does not require a security deposit from Singaporeans and PRs, nor is there an admin or registration fee for opening an account. That said, there are common but avoidable fees like one per cent for late payment and $2.14 per bill for paper billing (e-bills are free).

The major fee to look out for, though, is Keppel Electric's early termination charges. Unlike some companies which charge a one-time fee for early cancellation, you have to pay Keppel Electric about 30 per cent of your usual bill for the rest of the contract period.

I'll explain this in detail later, but their fee structure is definitely something to keep in mind for long contracts.

Keppel Electric FIXED24 & FIXED12 - fixed price plans

If you want the cheapest rates with Keppel Electric, you'll have to go for one of these fixed price plans. (Which is the norm among electricity retailers in Singapore.)

In the past, we've seen electricity retailers reserving the cheapest rates for the longest lock-in periods, which made sense. These days, Keppel Electric is offering the same $0.2890/kWh rate for both 12-month and 24-month plans.

However, this rate is currently the second cheapest, with Senoko's $0.2680/kWh being the cheapest. You can compare the other plans on the market here.

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Still, you may want to consider Keppel Electric as it's one of the cheapest rates currently offering 24-month plans. It's fair to assume that the price of electricity should go up in the long run, so if you're looking to lock in "today's rate" for three years, a plan like this seems like the way to go.

The main worry is commitment. Three years is a pretty long time, so before signing up, I'd get familiar with the early termination policy first.

In Keppel Electric's case, it's complicated. While the product factsheet doesn't explicitly tell you what the early termination policy is, it used to be this formula in 2019: (No. of days left in the contract) x (your average daily charges over the past 12 months) x 30 per cent.

Basically, it means you'll have to cough up a third of what you would have paid Keppel if you cancel early. Pretty off-putting, huh?

If you're not comfortable with this kind of clause, you might want to check other retailer fact sheets to see what sort of cancellation policy they have.

The smaller "indie" retailers tend to have more lenient charges, e.g. just a one-off penalty.

Keppel Electric ecoGreen24 & ecoGreen12 – carbon-neutral REC plan

Keppel Electric's ecoGreen plans launched pretty recently in February 2022. Like most of the other electricity providers, Keppel Electric's ecoGreen plan still utilises SP's main grid for electricity (by burning fossil fuel).

However, Keppel helps its customers acquire Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to neutralise their carbon footprint.

If you stay in a landed property, you can contact Keppel Electric to help you instal solar panels. Again, there's a however…

However, the electricity you harvested from your solar panels cannot be used for your house. You will have to sell the harvested solar electricity back to SP Group for rebates off your electricity bills.

Keppel Electric DOT3 / DOT24 - discount off tariff plans (ceased)

Keppel Electric's DOT plans work on the "discount off tariff" model, where the price of electricity is a floating rate based on the quarterly electricity tariff set by EMA, i.e. the price that SP charges.

Right now, the tariff stands at 25.07 cents per kWh for October to December 2019. This can rise and fall from quarter to quarter. If it falls, your bill will decrease accordingly.

But, just like with the price of… uh, everything else, I think one can expect the price of electricity to go up at some point in the future. A DOT plan doesn't buffer you from that, but at least you'll still be paying less than you would if you had stuck with SP.

Note that Keppel Electric's discount of 22 per cent isn't particularly high; several retailers (Ohm, Sunseap, Union Power) offer 23 per cent to 25 per cent.

That said, Keppel Electric has a low-commitment option, the DOT3 plan. The 22 per cent off rate is locked in for 24 months, but you're allowed to cancel as long as you try it out for at least three months. You have to give 60 days' notice to terminate your contract, and there is no early termination fee.

Keppel Electric KNIGHT - peak / off-peak electricity plan (ceased)

KNIGHT is Keppel Electric's non-standard plan and it has two different rates depending on the time of the day.

The off-peak rate of 16.34 cents per kWh is definitely very attractive, but the trouble is that it starts at 11pm. Any electricity you use before that - lights, water heater, electronics etc. - will be chargeable at the much higher 20.44 cents rate.

Assuming you do not have a nocturnal lifestyle, the main savings would be on your air conditioner. To figure out if this plan is good for you, you should probably install an advanced meter to better understand your personal electricity consumption by the hour.

Note that the contract duration is 24 months, so it'd be tricky to get out of this plan if it turns out that it doesn't work for your lifestyle.

Next steps: Keppel Electric promo codes & roadshows

All right, so… which promo code should you use? Here's a handy link to the Keppel Electric promotions page. I've also summed up the available promotions below:

This article was first published in MoneySmart.