HK Electric's tariff cut not enough, say traders
The restaurant trade and lighting and electrical appliance shops on Hong Kong Island said Hongkong Electric's 5.9 per cent tariff cut, announced yesterday, was too small.
The businesses, which use a lot of electricity, said the company should have announced a double-digit cut.
'They have to have a cut of at least 10 per cent,' said Catering Industry Association vice-president Thomas Woo Chu. 'This will help businesses. Business is so hard right now. Electricity is a very big expenditure.'
He thinks electricity providers have a social responsibility. 'Power companies already make so much,' he said. 'They should help other businesses to cut prices so that people will have it easier.'
Kevin Chui Lo-shing, owner of Grand Lighting in Morrison Hill Road, Wan Chai, said his electricity bill had risen HK$5,000 a month in the past three years. He spends an average of HK$20,000 on power each month. Some powers the 40 to 50 lamps that he switches on each day in his shop, but the lion's share feeds his five air conditioners.
Mr Chui would not be satisfied with anything less than a 15 per cent cut. 'A 5.9 per cent drop doesn't really help,' he said.
Man Chung Electrical, a home-appliances store in Aberdeen that sells television sets, heaters and air conditioners, said Hongkong Electric should have cut its tariffs by at least 10 per cent. With yesterday's cut, said director Li Siu-wang, 'they may as well have not cut anything'. Mr Li estimates his bill has increased 20 per cent in the past few years. He pays more than HK$10,000 a month. Most of it goes on air conditioning and the rest on powering goods on display and the shop's lighting.
An employee at Fu Wah Lighting, a lamp store in Java Road, North Point, said the power firm should have cut prices by at least 20 per cent. The shop spends HK$3,000 to HK$4,000 a month on electricity. '[The drop] is very little,' she said.
The businesses complained that power tariffs on Hong Kong Island were still much higher than in Kowloon. Hongkong Electric supplies Hong Kong and Lamma islands, while CLP Power supplies Kowloon, the New Territories and other outlying islands.
Mr Chui thinks all electricity customers should pay the same tariffs. 'We all live in the same place, after all,' he said.
