BEST Electricity Retailer Singapore – Price Plans Review (Exited Singapore)

Editor’s Note: BEST Electricity exited Singapore’s Open Electricity Market (OEM) in October 2021. Singapore Power (SP). SP’s Q3 2022 electricity tariff is $0.3017/kWh. Check out the latest electricity retailers’ price plans here.

We’re completely done with the Open Electricity Market (OEM) rollout, and I’ve still yet to find the cheapest, best electricity retailer in Singapore. It’s hard to keep up when prices are so competitive and retailers are one-upping each other every few days.

But if you’ve been Google-ing for the “best electricity retailer in Singapore“, you would’ve probably found the one literally called “Best Electricity”. Founded just a few years ago in 2015, Best Electricity was one of the more straightforward players in the power game. Best Electricity has since exited Singapore’s OEM in October 2021.

Let’s take a closer look at their electricity plans.

Best Electricity plan comparison (ceased operations)

Best Electricity plan	Price per kWh	Contract duration
BEST Home Fixed	18.90c	24 months
BEST Home Saver	22% off tariff = now 19.02c	24 months
BEST Home Saver	21% off tariff = now 19.27c	12 months
BEST Home Fixed	19.50c	12 months
BEST Home Fixed	19.70c	6 months
BEST Home Saver Upfront	Up to 17% upfront cash rebates	24 months

Best Electricity’s plans are straightforward enough – there are the two standard ones (fixed rate & discount off regulated tariff), and just one non-standard plan that offers upfront cash rebates as incentive.

As expected, the two 24-month standard plans are the cheapest: the BEST Home Fixed plan locks in your electricity price at 18.90c for 2 years, while The BEST Home Saver plan gives you a neat 22% off the tariff for the contract duration.

The BEST Home Saver Upfront is a non-standard plan that gives you an upfront cash rebate of up to 17% of your average monthly bills (x 24 months).

When compared the electricity tariff (currently 24.39c per kWh), these sound like significant savings. And they are – just that they’re not exactly the cheapest in market. Other retailers have rates that can shave up to 28% off the tariff.

On their website, Best Electricity states that they absorb the carbon tax and transmission loss, but that’s kind of the new industry standard so it’s nothing to shout about. However, I appreciate that they don’t stoop to the levels of dubious “service fees”. They also do not charge for hardcopy paper bills, which the more traditional consumers may appreciate.

BEST Home Fixed – Best Electricity fixed rate plans

Best Electricity plan	Price per kWh	Contract duration
BEST Home Fixed	18.90c	24 months
BEST Home Fixed	19.50c	12 months
BEST Home Fixed	19.70c	6 months

As mentioned above, the BEST Home Fixed 24-month plan is the cheapest plan Best Electricity has to offer. At 18.90c per kWh, it is 22.5% off the current tariff.

I did a quick search using the OEM’s comparison tool, and at time of writing, the top 5 cheapest fixed rate electricity price plans actually offer 27% to 28% off the tariff (17.62c to 17.78c per kWh, from iSwitch, Geneco, Sembcorp Power and Senoko). That’s quite a big difference.

Best Electricity also has a 6-month fixed rate plan, which may interest the commitment-phobes. However, it’s the most expensive of the 6-month plans in the market (at the time of writing anyway).

BEST Home Saver – Best Electricity discount off regulated tariff plans

Best Electricity plan	Price per kWh	Contract duration
BEST Home Saver	22% off tariff = now 19.02c	24 months
BEST Home Saver	21% off tariff = now 19.27c	12 months

This type of plan pegs your electricity to the regulated tariff, promising you a fixed discount off the tariff for your contract duration. For those who believe that electricity prices are set to drop, this plan-type is best for you.

It would seem Best Electricity’s prices are just not that competitive because they also lag behind in the discount-off-regulated-tariff department.

Their highest discount is 22% off tariff for the 24-month plans, but competitors like Ohm Energy, Diamond Electric, and Sunseap are offering 23% to 25%, and for shorter contract durations (6 to 12 months).

BEST Home Saver Upfront – Best Electricity cash rebate plan

Best Electricity plan	Price per kWh	Contract duration
BEST Home Saver Upfront	Up to 17% upfront cash rebates	24 months

The last plan is the BEST Home Saver Upfront, which is considered a non-standard plan. It’s only available in a 24-month contract, and you can get an attractive cash rebate of up to 17% of your 2 years electricity expenses.

Depending on how much cash rebate you want, you will also get a monthly discount off your bill.

Chosen cash rebate amount	Upfront cash rebate	Monthly discount
17%	$358.24	None.
16%	$337.17	1%
15%	$316.09	2%
14%	$295.02	3%
13%	$273.95	4%
12%	$252.88	5%
11%	$231.80	6%
10%	$210.73	7%
9%	$189.66	8%
8%	$168.58	9%
7%	$147.51	10%
6%	$126.44	11%
5%	$105.36	12%
4%	$84.29	13%
3%	$63.22	14%

* Upfront cash rebate calculated based on current tariff for 360 kWh monthly, which is the average consumption for 4-room HDB flats.

The upfront cash rebate takes X% of your 3-month consumption average, and multiplies it by 24 months.

Personally, I find the whole “choose your own discount” thing very gimmicky. Sure, you could potentially score significant savings, but how much you save very much depends on the tariff fluctuations and your consumption during the 2-year contract duration.

Next steps: Best Electricity promo codes & roadshows

Promotion	Validity
$20 rebate for 24-month electricity plans	From 1 Mar 2019 onwards
1% cash rebate with POSB Everyday Card (capped at $1)	–
$50 air conditioner servicing voucher (for 24-month plans, roadshow sign-ups only)	31 Dec 2019

Presently, you can get an additional $20 rebate if you commit to a 2-year plan. If you head to their roadshows, there’s also a partner promo with Natural Cool Airconditioning and Engineering (an air-con servicing company).

You’ll receive a $50 servicing voucher, but that’s provided you also sign up for an air-con servicing contract with Natural Cool, which is a lot to commit to at one go.

The POSB Everyday Card “promo” is not really a promotion per se, it’s just one of the perks of the card. You can get up to $1 off your SP bill – Best Electricity customers can benefit from this because you’ll be billed through SP Services.

Best Electricity referral programme

As with most electricity retailers, Best Electricity has a referral scheme so you can join in the “MLM” fun. When your friend signs up using your referral code, both of you will get $20 off your bill.

Both of you must be on 24-month plans and your friend must sign up on their own online to be eligible.

Have yet to switch from SP to the Open Electricity Market? Tell us what you think!