Energy Policy Debate: Data Center Rates, Power Authority Burden

On September 17, 2569 at Parliament, Arthavit Suwannaphakdi, a list-based lawmaker from the Thai Nation Building Party, announced government measures to ease the public's electricity burden. The government currently reduces the first 200 kilowatt-hours to no more than 3 baht per unit, using approximately 12 billion baht in budget, and removes street lighting charges from household bills for another 18 billion baht. In total, the state must bear more than 30 billion baht of the cost, with these measures starting from September 2569 billing. Arthavit noted that while the Energy Minister previously indicated plans to adjust data center rates higher than household rates, no clear timeframe for implementation has been provided.

He observed that the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), under the Energy Ministry, has not reduced rates for the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) and Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), which fall under the Interior Ministry. If the situation drags on, both utilities will face unsustainable losses and may be forced to cut back on electricity expansion plans in the future.

Arthavit cited data from the State Enterprise Policy Office showing that as of August 31, 2569, the PEA transferred 16,011 million baht to the treasury and the MEA transferred 5,104 million baht, together falling short of compensating the state's burden by nearly 9 billion baht.

As state spending increases, revenue must be secured to offset it, so the Energy Minister must urgently announce higher data center electricity rates and clearly define how costs are shared among EGAT, PEA, and MEA. "The delay by the Energy Ministry has consequences—do not hesitate, a decision must be made immediately," Arthavit said. "Both power utilities cannot bear this anymore, and it will definitely impact the budget."