Open Electricity Made Simple

13 April 2019

# Open electricity,  electricity plans,  retailers, Singapore Power, SP
 http://tinyurl.com/y39mwl6k

What is Open Electricity?

Simply, it is just a market for buying and selling of electricity;  hopefully,  the consumers can get cheaper electricity through competitive buying and selling of electricity.

In the older days,  electricity is always generated by PUB (former of SP Group) who will also deliver and sell the electricity to its consumers directly at fixed and regulated rates.  

About 20 years ago in 1998,  the Authority started the Singapore Electricity Pool (SEP) to "test" the workings of the market.  Real retail marketing started only in July 2001 when they allowed only those consumers having 2 MW or more power requirement to buy electricity from the retailers.  This market has since opened up to smaller consumers but only now,  they will open it to the 1.3 million households and small businesses in Singapore. 

There are about 35 Electricity Retailers in Singapore.  Many bloggers have blogged about how to choose the right electricity plan and the procedure to choose can be quite complex and complicated.   The many option available is confusing.  This article will try to make it simple.

What Being Offered?

There are not less than 10 different plans offered by each electricity retailer.   Basically, they can be divided in to 3 categories and in each category,  there may contain 3 or more plans depending on the length of the Contracts Period.  The 3 categories are

1.  The DOT Plan (DOT)

2.  The Fixed Plan (FFP)

3.  The Knight or the Owl Plan (POP)

What is the Best Plan?

This article will help those novices or layman to choose the right plan.    It is understand that 80% of Singapore's electricity consumers are in this category.

To choose the right plan,  one will need to know one's electricity usage pattern and the relationship between the electricity and the oil market.  The oil market will affect the SP’s tariff and also the electricity generating prices.   It can be very complex 

The following table briefly describes the 3 types of electricity plans:

Type of Plan	What's this?	If SP's Tariff		If Oil Price		Reason to Choose this plan
		Increases	Reduces	Increases	Reduces
Discount Off Tariff Plan (DOT)	Pegged to SP's tariff @ a specific discount rate over contract period	The rate will follow SP's tariff accordingly to the discounted rate		SP's tariff will increase or decrease with oil prices according to an approved  working  formula		The SP's tariff will try to track closely to the oil price
Fixed Price Plan (FPP)	Rate is fixed constant over the contract period	No effects.  Consumers will lose out to DOT plan   if SP's tariff falls below the fixed price				The future oil price will be higher than the present oil price
Peak/off peak plan (POP)	Rate is fixed for peak hours (7:00 am - 11:00 pm) and for off-peak hour between 11:00 pm to 7:00 am)	No effects. Same as FPP plan except the effective or average rate will become slightly cheaper if consumer uses all or more electricity during off peak hours;  otherwise,  the effective rate would become  higher than the FPP plan				Ditto same as FPP except you use more electricity at night and the effective or average rate will work out to be lower than FPP
Note 1:  There are more than 1 plan in each category;  for example, choose a 3 month plan if one has no confident

The table  looks rather complicated but the following flow chart should simplify the decision making process

 (double click to enlarge)

 Something about the Supply from Singapore Power (SP)

At the present moment,  it was reported that only about 18% to 20% of the SP’s consumers have switched supply to the private retailers.  Singapore has over 1.4 million consumer accounts. 

Many SP's consumers did not know that they are paying a higher price because SP has been asked to sign a Vesting Contract (VC) with about 6 major generating companies (Gencos) to ensure there will be competition among the 6 Gencos.  What SP's consumers are paying is a Vesting Contract Price (VCP)  worked out by SP once every quarterly.  One can read more about this VC and VCP in here.    The VCP inclined to be generally higher than the market electricity price.

The Advice

If one is not familiar with how the market works,   the best advise is to switch the supplier to the DOT plan.  This is because the DOT plan will track the SP’s tariff and one will pay a rate at a discount % from the SP’s tariff.  

Note 1:   Your Electricity Retailers should show you the hidden cost if any such as "Transmission Losses" or what not including additional security deposits.  If not shown or unknown to you,  you should request for them before you evaluate and sign at the bottom line;

Note 2:   Your Electricity Bills from the Electricity Retailers should show the unit of your monthly electricity consumption in Kwh (Kilo-Watt hours).  If it is not shown anywhere in the bills,  request for it.   This should also apply to the security deposits or any hidden cost that you have paid so that it is known to you for the computation and the comparison of the electricity bills.  In case of any doubt or problem,  seek the help from Singapore Power or EMA.    You can contact EMA @ https://www.ema.gov.sg/contact_us.aspx or Open Electricity Market @ https://www.openelectricitymarket.sg/contact-us

Why Malaysia Disapproved the Use of ILS in Seletar Airport?

11 Apr 2019
http://tinyurl.com/y2yhlkc8 
# Seletar Airport,  Firefly,  Malaysia,  Singapore,  ILS, GPS ,  landing system

Both the Malaysian and Singapore Governments have reached a tentative agreement to continue and allow Seletar Airport to be used for the FireFly air service from Malaysia .    The solution is for Singapore to remove  the aircraft landing procedure using Instrument Landing System (ILS) and revert back to the manual landing system.   But Why?

What is ILS?

ILS is a instrument landing system used by many airports all over the World to guide the airplane landings.  Without it,  the pilots will have to rely on their visions which means they cannot land in bad weather if the visibility is poor. 

Malaysia used the reason that ILS will restrict the building height allowed in its  Pasir Gudang area but Singapore repeatedly said the use of ILS would not change the existing height limits of the building in the flight path. 

Going Back to Manual System?

It was a surprise for Malaysia to disallow the use of ILS in Seletar Airport because ILS is more superior and safer system to use than the manual system.

There were some arguments between Malaysia and Singapore over the use of ILS system  over facebook and the presses

At the end,  the matter was discussed and put in place between the countries on 5 Apr 2019 with Singapore agreeing to withdraw the use of ILSin the landing procedure  while Malaysia agreeing to remove the flight restriction over Pasir Gudang indefinitely.  Meanwhile,  both parties agreed to set up a High Level Committee  to review the existing flight path agreement made in 1974.  They also agreed to jointly develop a GPS landing system that will be acceptable to both countries.

Why GPS Landing is Allowed?

It is understood that ILS is a well established but old and reliable analogue system developed just after World War 2.    GPS,   on the other hand is a relatively new system.  According to this article,  this GPS system allows aircraft with instrument approaches down to 60 metres (200 ft)@  800 metres (0.5 miles) away from the runway .   

If that is true,  the use of the GPS will allow higher buildings to be constructed at the Pasir Gudang end.  

Whether the GPS will be used in future will depend much on whether both countries would agree to work out a solution.  Joint development of a GPS landing system is a good start although the Malaysia would want to see this  kind of landing approach if this is technically feasible.

Why Singaporeans Cannot Get Cheaper Electricity from Singapore Power?

7 Apr 2019

# Singapore Power,  Open Electricity Market, Vesting Contracts,  Electricity Retailers, Gencos
http://tinyurl.com/y68n8rub

Unless one switches the electricity account from Singapore Power (SP) to other Electricity Retailers,  Singaporeans will not be able to get cheaper electricity rates.    This is because Singaporeans having SP's accounts are doing the Nation a service.   They are contributing about S$500 per household per annum for the past 4 years.

Why it is so?

Singapore has a small electricity market with just a few Power Generating Companies (Gencos).   To create an efficient and competitive electricity market in Singapore,  SP has been made to sign an agreement or contract with some six major Gencos in Singapore.  This contract is called “Vesting Contracts (VC)”.  It is for SP to buy electricity from the 6  Gencos at a fixed price called "Vesting Contract Price (VCP) to be worked out every quarterly according to a formula approved by the Electricity Market Authority of Singapore (EMA).   The  Vesting Contracts have no expiry date and can be terminated only by a 60-day notice according to the contracts agreement. 

It is understood in the effort to "privatise" further the supply of electricity,  SP will eventually relinquish its role as the supplier of electricity and retain the role only as infrastructure supporter. However,  it is also understood that there will always be a need for SP to be around to help existing consumers who would need SP's continued services.

What is this Vesting Contracts?

It is a contract signed between SP and the Gencos and facilitated by EMA.   This contract spelled out how SP must buy electricity from the Gencos at VCP for about 55% of Singapore’s electricity demand.   The method to work out this VCP will only be reviewed by EMA every 2 years.    SP will be based on the approved method to calculate the VCP  quarterly.  For readers who wanted to know more about how the VCP is set,  please refer to EMA’s website www.ema.gov.sg.

What’s the Purpose?

It was explained that one of the reasons for having the VC is to remove the “incentives” of the Gencos “fixing” the electricity market price by “short selling” the electricity supplies;   thereby pushing up the “pool price” in the Singapore Electricity Pool Market (SEPM) where electricity is sold at wholesale price..

How Vesting Contracts Work?

 

Before VP was introduced in 2004,  consumers will buy electricity from the electricity retailers at the pool prices or the Uniform Singapore Energy Price (USEP).   Say the consumers want to buy 3 MW,  they will approach Genco 1  who will supply only  2MW at pool price because that is all that he has had;  the consumers will have to buy the 3rd  MW from Genco 2 at a negotiated price.   There is no competition;  also, the pool price can be always"fixed" by the few players.    After VP was introduced,  the Gencos are bound by the VP to sell only 55% or 1 MW to the consumers.  The Gencos will have to compete to supply the 3rd MW at a competitive rate.  

Has it Worked?

It can be seen that this VCP method worked quite well before 2009 although it has benefited the  Gencos more with the pool price running below the VP.  Somehow the picture was a bit out of track after 2009 and it has gone awry after 2012.

The SP's consumers have been “subsidizing” the Gencos all these time after VC was introduced in 2004.  In the graph just shown above,   it can be seen that the orange patch is much larger than the green patch which denotes that the consumers were paying the Gencos more than the pool prices,

This article claimed that the VP in Singapore had made the Singapore consumers pay the extra $2.7 billion over the last 4 years. This worked out to be more than $ 500 per household per annum.  

Are there any other Better Methods?

1.  Breaking Up the Gencos into many smaller generating companies 

It was said this is not economical as the smaller generating companies do not have the economy of scale to provide cost-effective and cheaper electricity prices;

2.  Imposing a Price Cap in the Electricity Pool market  

When there are only a few market players,  imposing a price cap was viewed to hurt or delay the decision for the entrance of new Gencos;   the setting of the price cap can also be tricky and very often,  the prices are set higher than necessary. 

3. By breaking up the generation and forcing Gencos to lease out the capacity to several operators

EMA said this was not workable.

Any Other Improvements?

1.   Shortening the Vesting Contracts reviewing period of 2 years

The 2-year review is reasonable if we have a stable energy price over the 2 year period. This reviewing period should be shortened to 6 months or even less when the energy price is volatile especially when there is drastic change in the energy price.   SP should also be asked to shorten its time of working out the VCP.   The aim must be one that will ensure the VCP will always track closely to the market price.

2.  Allowing more parties to join the VP

The contract is presently signed only between the 6 major Gencos and SP.   It will make the system more transparent and the VCP more stable if there are more participants.  Don't forget that VCP can also be "fixed" by the few "interested parties".

3.   Not limiting the Generating Capacity 

EMA allowed Gencos to have excess generating capacities for reasons to get more users to participate in the LNG  Vesting Contracts (LNG VC). This LNG VC is another instrument used by EMA to ensure stable LNG supply.  However, there was a called for EMA to limit the generating capacities after the Hyflux's TuaSpring saga as it was viewed that the excess generating capacities is hurting the Gencos badly.     

It should be noted that the consumers will get better pricing with more competitions.   Furthermore,  Gencos are not small flies or companies;  there is no need to "spoon feed" them by over-regulation that will hurt the consumers pocket.  The free market should always rule. 

 What is the recourse for Consumers?

At present,   the VC only applies to SP's consumers who are non-contestable consumers.  It does not apply to contestable consumers who buy from Electricity Retailers. By 1 May 2019,  all electricity consumers in Singapore will have the option to switch their electricity retailer from SP to about 30 retailers in Singapore. 

If consumers think that they should not do the "National Service",  they can always switch to another retailer to become a contestable consumer.  

However,  those who have signed up to be contestable consumers should not be too happy because if SP cannot provide the 55% demand,  the contestable consumer might be called up to satisfy the 55% demand and pay electricity at the VCP level.  

Playing Netflix Movies in Xiaomi TV4 (MiTV4)

05 April 2019 Update

Link :    https://tinyurl.com/y3v3uq5f
normal;">google:  https://tinyurl.com/y52k88dd
# MiTV,  Netflix, Modded version

1) MiTVs Can Play Netflix @HD only
2) Reasons Why MiTV Cannot Play Netflix?
3) What Can Be Done ?
4) Will one get Netflix 4K thro' OS update?
5) How do We get MiBox S to Play 4K Netflix on MiTV4 ?

Understand there are users of Mibox S able to play Netflix at 4K UHD mode using MiTV4 as a "dummy" TV.   

Comparing the technical specification between Mibox S and MiTV4,  one could quickly tell that MiTV4 is much more superior in term of graphic capability and other aspect except MiTV4 does not have VP9 and some video formats which are firmware related.

It would appear that  the issue of not being able to play Netflix at 4K UHD mode are just one or more of the following

1.  The Google DRM certification;
2.  The Netflix certification and 
3.  The lack of VP9 video decoder.

	MiBOX S	MiTV4  55"
Specification
Output Resolution:	4K (3840 x 2160)	-Ditto same
CPU:	Cortex-A53 Quad-core 64bit	-Ditto same
GPU:	Mali-450	Mali-830
RAM:	2GB DDR3	2GB DDR4
Storage:	8GB eMMC	-Ditto same
Operating System:	Android 8.1	-Ditto same
Decoders
Video decoder:	4K@60fps，VP9， H.264，  MPEG1/2/4，VC-1，Real8/9/10	4K@60fps, H.264, MPEG1/2/4 VC-1 DivX4/5 WMV3 REAL8/9/10
Video Format:	RM，MOV，VOB，AVI，  MKV，TS，Mp4，3D	RM、FLV、MOV、AVL、MKV、TS、MP4
Audio decoder:	DOLBY, DTS	-Ditto same

If one must use Mibox S to play 4K Youtube and 4K Netflix on MiTV4,  one would be able to do it as illustrated in this article
https://tinyurl.com/y2x3lkbo

04 April 2019  Update

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MiTVs Can Play Netflix @HD  only

Using the "Test Pattern" video clips  provided by Netflix,  it is found that the MiTV4 could only get a picture resolution as high as 850 x 480 with a streaming speed of  1750 kps as shown;  also,  the picture frame is only  24 fps.  

This is not as good as expected although the internet speed test showed that the download speed can go up as high as 90 Mbps and also, Netflix's  prime time Netflix performance was around 4 Mbps or about 32,000 kps which should be enough to play Netflix movies at 4K quality as it requires only 25,000 kps or 25 mbps..

The bottleneck could be caused by the streaming speed capability of MiTV.    The MiTV's own test speed showed a maximum streaming speed of about 1,000 kbps but this could be the streaming test speed from a server in China.   

The problem could also be the APK did not solve the DRM certification and still stuck in level 3 certification.

Notes
1.   The "Test Pattern" video clip can be accessed by typing "Test Pattern" in the Netflix's search box
2.   The video clip might not work and give server error on the older Netflix APKs downloaded from Apitiode TV site
 3.  According to this web site,  Netflix has over 4,500 servers located all over the World as shown in this World map.  

31 March 2019
http://tinyurl.com/y3v3uq5f

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Reasons Why MiTV Cannot Play Netflix

Many Chinese TVs or handphones,  especially those like Xiaomi could not  play Netflix  movies properly in HD mode.   The same was found in other non- Chinese brands like Motorola and ASUS,  Because of this,  many MiTV users have bought additional set top box  and used MiTV as “dumb Display TV” to watch Netflix.    

This article will describe the use of some APKs that will allow these android devices to  play Netflix in HD quality. 

Why ?

According to the explanations of  most research groups,  there are 2 “locks” designed to protect the playback and streaming  of the media contents.  One is a "Google's lock" called “Widevine Digital Rights Management (DRM)”;  the other is the “Local lock” provided by the content providers such as Netflix or Amazon Prime to protect their media contents separately. 

What is DRM?

DRM is nothing but a certification for content providers to check if the device has been certified safe to play their contents.   It is designed to protect the media  contents from  copying or piracy.  Presently,  the certification from Google is free of charge.  

Before playing the media content,  the media player will check the certification.  Those devices certified to be  Level-1 will be allowed to stream the content at HD quality or 720p and above.  Those certified under Level-2 will have  some restrictions whereas those certified for level-3 will not be able to play the HD content  altogether without error messages.

How to Check the DRM Certification?

1. Download this APK and run.   It will show the certification level of the device as follows.

 Double click picture to enlarge

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What Can Be Done ?

Most hardware are designed to play HD contents but they were not certified level-1 because there was no demand for the manufacturers to do so.   For example in China,  most viewers don’t watch Netflix and Amazon Prime and therefore,  most TV or phone manufacturers could not bother to get their hardware certified.  

The content provider like Netflix would not normally provide the "local lock" unless the  devices have been blacklisted for violating copyrights.

The best bet therefore is for users to search around for a solution.   XDA is one good platform; GitHub is another  platform.   These platforms are developers' websites and forum.   Sometime,  they release the solution intentionally.  In the case of Netflix,  3 Netflix files were found in XDA that can be used  in MiTV4.   It is known to work also in many phones and TV that cannot play Netflix properly.   One can download the 3 files from the following site

1.   The Netflix APK for device with HD players

2.  The Netflix APK for device with UHD players

3.  The Netflix APK for device with UHD and Dolby 5.1 players

Note:

1.  One would have to uninstall any version of Netflix first before installing newer ones.   Updating service will not work; 

2.  Do not click update when there is a prompt,  just click cancel. 

3.  It is normal for the first play to be reboot itself  as it is a modded version

4.  To get 4K display on MiTV,   one must also turn on the HDMI 2.0 function of the MITV. The default is always off.  

For Patchwall OS,  one should first select the correct HDMI input on the TV.   After that press the 3 horizontal bar menu button of the TV's remote,  a side screen will appear on TV.  Select "Playback setting" to turn HDMI 2.0 from off to on.   

As for Android OS model,  one should first select the correct HDMI input on the TV. After that, press the Center Button of the TV's remote to turn on the HDMI 2.0. This will allow users to turn on the Mibox's "Enhanced HDMI setting".

5.  If the device is not 4K capable,  it will be good to use only No.1 and not 2 or 3 so as not to expect unnecessary results.  

6.   If the device is  4K capable,  it might not play Netflix video in 4K.  Like MiTV4,  it can only play the 4K movie in HD 1080p quality at best as it does not have the Google's VP9 unless movies is in H264 or H265 format.    Presently,  there is still  no solution found to upgrade MiTV4 to play movies with VP9 format; understand that the TV's firmware would have to be rooted or updated. 

7.   In Netflix,  the video playing format is always showed in the content page of each movie

 Quality of the 4K Movies Playing in MiTV4

Although the 4K movies are played in HD in MiTV4,    it is considered acceptable as shown in the following clip

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Will one get Netflix 4K thro' OS update? 

It will depend on where the TV is located.  If the TV is in areas where Xiaomi did not have a license to use Netflix,  one will never get Netflix 4k through OS update.  This is because Netflix has a geographical restriction on the use of its services. It is varying from country to country, depending on the agreement signed between Xiaomi and Netflix..