Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga says that the Bt4.68/unit electricity price for January-April next year, as proposed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), is a huge increase from the current rate of Bt3.99/unit and unacceptable.

He assured that the actual price will be much lower, adding that he has instructed the authorities concerned to explore all means to ease the burden on consumers.

The ERC must manage the pricing in a way that reduces the price or, if an increase is inevitable, must keep it at a level that will not place an unnecessarily heavy burden on consumers, said the energy minister.

He explained that the ERC is legally required to publically announce the new power price, so that they can take feedback before the new price comes into effect.

The energy minister also said that they have been working non-stop to gather and analyse all relevant information on fuel, gas, electricity, clean energy and alternative energy, in order to design structural change to a sustainable and fair energy system.

Hitting back at critics, he said that it is easy to talk about energy reform, but deciding how it is to be reformed, what the alternatives are and identifying the impacts of reform are not easy tasks.

He said he and his staff are working hard to come up with solutions that will be of public benefit.