EXTRAORDINARY spikes in spot electricity prices recently have led Singapore's electricity retailers to pass the buck to new household customers by raising the prices of fixed-price plans under the city-state's Open Electricity Market (OEM).

If the prickly higher electricity prices persist, it could throw cold water over the chief appeal of the country's energy sector liberalisation, which is significantly cheaper power bills for residential users.

"Rates have gone up across the board for all retailers," said a top executive of a major electricity retailer resignedly, pointing fingers at the recent surge in electricity spot prices, whose root cause is still unclear and is being investigated by industry regulator Energy Market Authority (EMA).