Electricity likely to cost less as cabinet okays excise tax waiver on B0 diesel, fuel oil

The move aims to help reduce the cost of electricity generation for domestic use, deputy government spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek said on Tuesday.

Ratchada said the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) currently uses natural gas to produce about 60 per cent of electricity consumed in the country. However, due to the rising global price and a weakening baht, the cost of electricity production has been on the rise. Egat is therefore looking to switch to using B0 diesel and fuel oil as the main fuels for electricity generation instead of natural gas.

“The waving of excise tax on B0 diesel and fuel oil for six months will help bring down the cost of electricity generation and therefore reduce power bills by 1-1.5 baht per unit,” said Ratchada.

“Furthermore, the manufacturing cost of consumer products will also go down due to a lowered electricity cost for factories,” she added.