Hidden Fees on Your Electricity Bill: A Checklist Beyond the Headline Rate
Last updated: 12 September 2026
A plan's cents-per-kWh rate is what we rank by, but it isn't the whole cost. A few smaller charges sit outside that rate entirely — some are genuinely worth checking before you sign up, and one or two things commonly assumed to be hidden fees actually aren't.
AMI smart meter installation — $43.60
Some plans (usually peak/off-peak plans) require a smart meter to take half-hourly readings. If your home doesn't already have one, SP Group charges a one-time $43.60 (with GST) installation fee — this exact figure shows up as a condition on plans like Keppel Electric's WEEKEND SAVER. See our smart meter guide for what the meter actually gives you once it's installed.
Paper billing fees — varies by retailer, not SP Group
SP Group itself doesn't charge for paper bills. But some OEM retailers do charge a fee if you opt for a paper statement instead of e-billing — PacificLight's factsheets list $3.27 per paper bill, for example. This isn't disclosed in the headline rate, so it's worth checking a plan's factsheet (linked from the plan name on every retailer page on this site) if you specifically want paper statements.
Security deposit — sized to your housing type
SP Group requires a security deposit on your first bill, sized to your housing type — smaller for HDB flats, larger for landed property — separate from any deposit your OEM retailer collects. We cover how that deposit is split and carried over when you switch retailer in our switching guide. For the exact current amount for your specific housing type, check SP Group's own residential utilities guide rather than assuming a figure — it varies by room type and, on some tiers, by whether you're on GIRO.
Carbon tax — real, but not a separate line item on your bill
Singapore's carbon tax (currently $45 per tonne of emissions) does raise electricity costs — generation companies pass it through to retailers, and the tax increase for 2026 is estimated to add about $3 a month to an average 4-room HDB flat's bill. But for residential customers, it isn't broken out as its own line item the way it is on some business accounts — it's already folded into the energy cost component of the SP tariff and retailer rates we show on this site. There's nothing separate to look for on a household bill; it's already priced in. See our SP tariff guide for how the energy cost component works.
"Non-Standard Price Plan" — a plan classification, not a housing category
You'll sometimes see a retailer's own factsheet label a plan "Standard Price Plan" or "Non-Standard Price Plan." That's an EMA classification of the plan itself, not your home — standard plans are fixed-rate, discount-off-tariff, or peak/off-peak structures, while non-standard covers bespoke plans like green/renewable add-ons. EMA requires standardised fact sheets specifically for standard price plans; non-standard plans (which is where most green plans on this site sit, including Keppel Electric's ecoGreen24, Senoko Energy's LifeGreen24, and Tuas Power's PowerFIX 25 G+) aren't held to quite the same standardised disclosure format, so it's worth reading a green plan's own terms a little more carefully than you would a standard fixed-rate plan.
Early termination fees — check the retailer's own factsheet
Early termination fees vary by plan and aren't something we can pull from every retailer's site reliably enough to publish as a number on this site right now — where a plan card doesn't show one, that means we don't have verified data for it, not that the plan has no ETF. Always check the plan's own factsheet (linked from the plan name on each retailer's page) before signing up, especially for any plan with a lock-in longer than you're fully comfortable with.