Update | CLP Power cuts back its tariff increase for next year to 3.1pc
Power supplier sets next year's rise at 3.1pc, far below figure of 11.8pc in its development plan; firm may also buy or hire floating LNG terminal
The city's largest power supplier will increase its tariff for next year by 3.1 per cent - far lower than the projected 11.8 per cent put forward in its development plan.
The increase by CLP Power translates into a rise of 3.4 cents per unit from the current 110.8 cents per kilowatt-hour. The move will generate estimated revenue of HK$1.3 billion.
The news came as the firm also revealed to lawmakers yesterday that it had started to explore a new source of natural gas - by buying or renting a floating liquefied natural gas terminal to help stabilise gas supplies.
The company, which supplies more than two million users in Kowloon, Lantau and the New Territories, had warned of sharp tariff rises as it sought to meet new emission caps imposed by the government amid a depletion of cheap natural gas from a reserve off Hainan .
But the utility said earlier this year that it didn't need the projected tariff rise because of a drop in international fuel prices.
Its managing director, Paul Poon Wai-yin, told the Legislative Council's economic development panel yesterday that the company had done a lot to curb the rise in fuel costs, including by using cheaper natural gas from the Yacheng reserve off Hainan instead of gas from a mainland pipeline originating in Central Asia, which was said to be three times more expensive.