Bangkok: Keep an eye on the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC) board as they revise the electricity tariff structure, aiming to raise electricity costs for data centers. The Prime Minister will chair a meeting of the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC) on July 15 to consider solutions to the electricity tariff structure. These solutions include lowering the price of electricity if consumption is less than 200 units per month (below 3 baht per unit), incorporating public utility power from electricity bills, and integrating data centers into the new tariff structure at a rate of 6 satang per unit, hoping to use the difference to subsidize household electricity costs.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Poolpat Leesombatpaiboon, Secretary-General of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), stated that the government's policy on restructuring electricity rates, such as setting the rate for users consuming no more than 200 units per month below 3 baht, as well as adjusting the rates for various types of electricity, such as data centers, are still under consideration by the policymakers. The Ministry of Energy is preparing to submit the matter for consideration at the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC), chaired by the Prime Minister, on July 15th. If the government reaches a conclusion on the base electricity rate structure, the ERC is ready to develop guidelines and announce the new rates in line with the policy.
Regarding the review of electricity purchase costs from renewable energy power plants, this must await the committee tasked with resolving issues arising from the purchase of electricity from private power producers, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilapraphan. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is a member of this working group and is ready to provide information to the committee and proceed according to the National Energy Policy Council's (NEPC) policies.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is preparing to study a review of the cost of purchasing electricity from renewable energy power plants to align with lower production costs. They emphasized that this is not a dismantling or cancellation of existing power purchase agreements, but rather a cost review. During the period when the government promoted renewable energy production, participating operators under the adder scheme received additional subsidies on top of the base and variable electricity tariffs (FT), resulting in sales revenues as high as approximately 8-11 baht per unit. Even after the adder period ended, they were still able to sell electricity at an average rate of approximately 3.10 baht per unit. Currently, the purchase price for solar power is approximately 2.16 baht per unit. Currently, there are 593 renewable energy power plant contracts that have commenced commercial operation (COD), totaling 4,336 megawatts, while there are still 4 projects totaling 67 megawatts that have not yet comme nced operation.
Reporters also reported that at the National Energy Policy Council meeting on July 15th, Mr. Ekanat Promphan, Minister of Energy, will propose the idea of increasing the number of electricity user categories from 8 to 10. A new category, "Data Centers," will be added as the 9th, requiring them to pay a higher electricity rate, possibly around 6 satang per unit. The policy aims to use the profit difference to subsidize electricity costs for households and domestic industries, as AI processing systems and large servers draw significant electricity continuously 24 hours a day. This forces them to rely on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), which has high costs. If electricity is charged at the normal rate, the average Ft charge for consumers would also increase.
Furthermore, following the government's proposal to separate "public electricity charges" from citizens' electricity bills, the Ministry of Energy will propose classifying this as electricity category 10. This amount averages around 17 billion baht per year, representing 2-2.5% of total electricity consumption. Citizens would have to bear this hidden cost within their base electricity bill, approximately 10-15 satang per unit.