Electricity Retailer Singapore: Switch Plans or Go Solar?

Key Takeaways:
Switching from SP Group to an Open Electricity Market retailer saves the average Singapore homeowner roughly S$3–5/month, around 1–2% off your bill. Solar saves S$180–280/month and locks in that saving for 25 years. If you own a landed property, the bigger lever is generating your own electricity, not shopping for a slightly cheaper grid plan.

SP Group raised household electricity tariffs 2.1% for Q2 2026, bringing the rate to 29.72¢/kWh (incl. GST) — the largest single-quarter jump since Q4 2023. EMA has already warned that sharper increases are coming.

If you're a landed homeowner staring at a S$300+ monthly bill, you've probably done what most people do: opened a comparison page, looked at Geneco, Keppel, and Tuas Power, and asked yourself which plan saves the most.

Switching retailers in 2026 saves a landed household S$10–15/month. Solar saves S$180–280/month. This guide breaks down how the Open Electricity Market actually works, what the retailers charge right now, why switching gives diminishing returns compared to going solar.

How Singapore's Open Electricity Market Actually Works

The Open Electricity Market (OEM) launched in November 2018 and gave Singapore households the choice of who bills them for electricity. The electricity itself is identical regardless of who you buy from, as every kWh travels through the same SP Group grid.

What changes is who sets your per-kWh rate. SP Group's regulated tariff is adjusted quarterly by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) based on natural gas prices. OEM retailers offer fixed-rate or discount-off-tariff plans that sit slightly below the regulated rate. According to EMA data from October 2025, around 36.6% of Singapore households have switched to OEM retailers, with the remaining 63.4% staying on the SP regulated tariff.

OEM status doesn't change your eligibility for solar or how the Simplified Credit Treatment (SCT) sell-back scheme works — surplus exports earn credits at roughly 75–80% of the prevailing tariff regardless of who bills you.

The Top Electricity Retailers in Singapore and What They Charge in 2026

Six OEM retailers remain in the residential market, down from a peak of 12. The smaller players (Ohm Energy, iSwitch) failed during the 2021–2022 wholesale price spike because they couldn't compete with the generation companies that own both supply and retail.

Here's what the main 24-month fixed plans look like right now, post-Q2 2026 tariff increase:

Sources: SP Group (April 2026), Open Electricity Market retailer pricing pages, Dollars and Sense (March 2026), Home & Decor (April 2026), SingSaver (April 2026)

Why Switching Retailers Gives Diminishing Returns

Switching from SP to a 24-month OEM plan saves a typical landed household around S$10–15/month. Real money, but the saving stops growing because every retailer is exposed to the same wholesale market SP is. When natural gas prices rose after the Middle East conflict in early 2026, Geneco and Keppel both raised their 24-month rate from 27.68¢ to 28.80¢/kWh in the same month. The discount stays roughly proportional to the tariff, but the absolute savings don't grow.

Market consolidation has made this worse. From 12 retailers in 2019 down to six today, the survivors are all owned by Singapore's major power generators, and their 24-month plans have all converged at 28.80¢/kWh.

The deeper issue is structural: Singapore generates roughly 95% of its electricity from imported natural gas, and the carbon levy is rising from S$45/tonne today to S$50–80/tonne by 2030. None of that goes away by switching retailers. Solar is the only way to decouple from quarterly tariff movements, because the electricity comes from your own roof.

Solar Replaces  Your Grid Import, Not Just a Small Slice of It

A well-sized rooftop system on a Singapore landed home (8–15 kWp) generates 1,000–1,500 kWh/month. At the current tariff, that's S$297–446/month worth of electricity offset against grid imports. Surplus exports earn SCT credits at roughly 75–80% of the prevailing tariff (around 20–21¢/kWh today), and that credit rises with every quarterly tariff increase.

A 10 kWp system in Singapore costs S$15,000–S$20,000 fully installed with payback in five to eight years, or you can go Rent-to-Own with monthly savings typically exceeding the structured payment from day one. The S$50,000+ in 25-year savings is roughly the cost of a full mid-range car replacement.

Where Switching Retailers Still Makes Sense

None of this means switching is wrong and for some households it's the right call. Switching takes minutes online; a solar installation takes one to two days. The question is which lever fits your situation.

1. You live in an HDB flat or condo with no usable roof

Solar isn't on the table. Switch retailers, take the S$10–15/month, and move on. Geneco's Get It Fixed 24 or Keppel's Fixed24 are the safest plays at 28.80¢/kWh.

2. Your monthly bill is under S$150

The savings benefits of solar are not as apparent when your consumption is modest. Switching is the cleaner option.

3. You're one to two years from selling your home

Solar pays back over five to eight years. If your timeline is shorter, the OEM switch might be the better fit.

4. You want both

Solar and OEM aren't mutually exclusive. Solar reduces how much you import; the OEM plan slightly reduces the rate on what's left. Combined, a landed homeowner can get their post-solar bill down to S$25–60/month.

For everyone else with a landed home and a bill over S$200, switching shaves a few dollars while solar shaves hundreds every month.

For a deeper look at how solar economics work on a Singapore landed home, see our complete 2026 cost guide to residential solar in Singapore.

You're Choosing Between Saving Dollars and Saving Hundreds

Switching electricity retailers in Singapore gives real but limited results. You're still paying for every kilowatt-hour, still exposed to every quarterly tariff move. For a landed household, that's S$10-15/month worth doing, but not a solution to the underlying problem.

Solar changes where your electricity comes from. On a landed home with a S$300+ monthly bill, a 10 kWp system pays for itself in five to eightyears and continues generating for two decades after that. EMA has flagged that more tariff increases are coming, and switching your provider does cushion the blow slightly. With solar, you’ll significantly reduce your exposure to those quarterly tariff movements and keep doing so for 25 years.

Check out our free solar calculator to estimate your roof's savings potential  , or chat with our solar advisors for a no-obligation assessment.