According to documents submitted by the Environmental Protection Department to the Legislative Council, Gas Company (00003.HK) plans to raise the standard gas tariff by 1.3 Hong Kong cents per megajoule to 28.5 Hong Kong cents, and the maintenance fee by 0.5 to 10 Hong Kong dollars from August 1st this year. The increases are 4.8% and 5.3%, respectively. It is estimated that after the gas price increase, the rate increase of monthly gas bills for about 70% residence users will not exceed HKD 10. The company has also decided not to raise prices again in the next two years.

Under the gas company's discount plan, about 43,000 households (including elderly, disabled, low-income, and single-parent families) will be exempted from adjusting the standard gas fee and continue to be exempt from the maintenance fee.

The gas company stated that since the adjustment of fees in August 2022, the estimated cumulative inflation rate is about 5%. The explanation for the price increase is to cope with the increased operating costs due to inflation, especially the increased manpower costs due to the shortage of technical personnel in the gas industry, and the huge capital investment in the next few years.

The company also stated that the actual total investment from 2022 to 2023 is about 1.9 billion yuan, and the total capital investment from 2024 to the next five years is expected to reach 9.8 billion yuan.