EMA consults on proposed modifications to automatic renewal practice for electricity retailers
26 February 2025
From 3 February 2025 to 7 March 2025, the Energy Market Authority (“EMA”) is conducting a public consultation on proposed modifications to the auto-renewal practice in the retail electricity market to enhance consumer awareness of auto-renewal provisions in electricity retail contracts. EMA would like feedback on the approach, the proposed wording to EMA’s Code of Conduct for Retail Electricity Licensees (“Code”), and implementation timeline.
Automatic contract renewal (“auto-renewal”) is a feature in the retail electricity market that allows expiring electricity retail contracts between retailers and consumers to be renewed along previous or pre-determined terms and duration. Auto-renewal contract benefits both consumers and retailers. For consumers, it reduces the administrative burden of regularly renewing contracts. For retailers, it provides a more stable customer base which allows them to more effectively manage price risks by purchasing the necessary fuel-indexed instruments.
Consumers on auto-renewal contracts are protected under the Code through consumer protection stipulations which cover notice requirements for contract expiry, termination and renewal. In addition, the auto-renewed electricity rate must be lower than the prevailing regulated tariff. Consumers also may terminate the auto-renewed contract within 30 days of the renewed date without incurring early termination charges.
EMA intends to introduce three modifications:
- Additional notification to all consumers about their auto-renewed contracts, and via a consumer advisory template for residential consumers only
- Additional notification channels for residential consumers
- Allow residential consumers to opt out of auto-renewal at the time of contracting for a new contract
EMA intends to implement the changes, including Code modifications, in June 2025. EMA recognises that these changes may necessitate adjustments to IT systems, training and marketing materials, and would like to seek retailers’ feedback on the feasibility of this implementation timeline.
Reference materials
The following materials are available on the EMA website www.ema.gov.sg: