The Great Recharge is underway in Singapore's energy sector

THESE are interesting times for the Singapore energy sector, as the market braces itself for full retail competition by 2018.

In 2015, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) lowered the contestability threshold from 4 megawatt-hours to 2 megawatt hours, enabling some 33,000 commercial or industrial consumers who met the minimum consumption rate to participate in the open market. It is planned that, by 2018, the remaining 1.3 million small consumers - mainly households - will be given the choice between paying regulated tariffs and switching to electricity from retailers at market prices.

Switching presents a threat in any competitive market, and the energy sector is no exception. If consumer expectations are not met, energy providers will struggle to retain customers.