The Election Commission (EC) last week announced that it is ready to consider a request by the caretaker government to use an extraordinary budget to subsidise electricity bills for the public.
By law, once a royal decree on an election has been issued, the caretaker government is required to seek approval from the EC if it wants to allocate any extraordinary budget.
The EC's move came after complaints from the public about sharply rising bills during this hot season. The skyrocketing bills are the outcome of the National Energy Regulatory Committee (NERC)'s decision to hike the power tariff during May to August.
The NERC, however, made a U-turn after the explosive public reaction. So, the NERC on Friday decided to cut the power fee rate for May-August to 4.7 baht per kilowatt-hour, down 0.02 baht from the current rate at 4.72 baht. It is considered one way to ease pressure on the public and the rate reduction does not reflect lower costs of power generation.
Several political parties used the power bill cut issue to attack the caretaker government, particularly Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is the No. 1 prime minister candidate of the United Thai Nation (UTN).
Gen Prayut had announced he would consult with the EC over using the extraordinary budget to subsidise power bills.
The subsidy raises ethical concerns. It could be perceived as the caretaker government using state resources to gain votes ahead of the May 14 general election.
As the election regulator and watchdog, the EC must preserve the fairness of the election process.
While the caretaker government might argue the sudden power bill reduction is being carried out to help people, there are other solutions the government and NERC can adopt before it resorts to this measure, which some believe amounts to vote-buying.
In fact, the NERC used the LNG price in January at US$20 (687 baht) per million BTU to calculate the power fee for the period of May-August, despite the fact the current price of LNG, which accounts for 45% of pool gas used for electricity generation in the country, is now lower than $13 per million BTU.
If the NERC uses the current price to calculate the power bill, it can immediately drop by 9%-10%.
Why does it cite the rate in January to calculate the fee for May-August despite the lead time for LNG imports being just one and a half months?
Importantly, Gen Prayut is the chairman of the NERC. Why didn't he opt for this solution, which does not call on a huge, extraordinary budget for a subsidy?
The EC must also know the subsidy is not the last resort for easing public hardship.
If the EC and the government believe it is really necessary to use an extraordinary budget to subsidise power bills, the subsidy must be introduced after the election on May 14.
The EC must prove its neutrality in this election, which is crucial to the future of the country. It is the EC's responsibility to ensure a fair and transparent election process, and it must not allow any actions that could be seen as using state resources to influence voters.
