The Federation of Thai Industries has roundly criticized the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for behaving like an only agency responsible for setting national electricity prices every four months, based on the data and assumptions provided by oil companies, without any plan for structural reform to reduce power prices.

The comment was made by FTI vice president Isares Rattanadilok Na Phuket today, in response to the ERC’s decision yesterday to increase the price of electricity, for the January-April 2024 period, from 3.99 baht to 4.68 baht per unit, or 17%.

He said that the ERC’s decision clearly reflects on the commission’s energy policy and management, which lack any vision or strategy to control electricity prices, through price restructuring, as has been recommended by other sectors.

Isares said that the ERC has the most resources to address energy price problems and should take the lead in developing and recommending relevant and targeted policies. Instead, however, it seems to behave like an ordinary unit, doing the routine job of recalculating electricity prices every four months based on data provided or recorded internally.

He also said that consumers should not be left expecting bad news about prices from the ERC every four months, only to then have the government step in to mitigate the price increase.