The government has agreed to extend the 2 sen/kilowatt hour (kWh) electricity rebate that is currently being enjoyed by domestic electricity consumers. With this, the rebate will continue to be provided until December 2022.

The 2 sen/kWh rebate was first announced back in December 2020 for both domestic and non-domestic users, for the period of January to June 2021. It was subsequently extended to 31 December 2021, and again to June 2022 (but this time only for domestic users).

Meanwhile, the surcharge for non-domestic consumers will also be maintained at 3.70 sen/kWh. This is lower than the actual rate of Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT), which currently stands at 11.81 sen/kWh. Briefly, the ICPT is a mechanism that allows Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) to review the electricity tariff every six months, so that its charges reflects the changes in fuel and other generation-related costs.

“On that note, all users in Peninsular will continue to pay the electric bill at the same rate as the first six month of the year based on their utilisation,” said the Energy and Natural Resources Minister, Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, since the government has already agreed earlier to maintain the base electricity tariff for all electricity users at 39.45 sen/kWh until 31 December 2024.

Datuk Seri Takiyuddin also shared that the subsidy bill incurred from these decisions will come up to a total of RM5.8 billion. The government has agreed to foot the bill despite the exponential increase in fuel cost in the global market, he said.

Last month, it was reported that the government had considered passing on some of the electricity cost to users – including domestic users – in the form of surcharges as TNB is experiencing difficulty in maintaining the current rates. This is especially with coal prices seeing a significant increase over the past few months.

(Source: The Star)

• TAGS:
• Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan
• Electricity Bills
• Electricity Rebates
• Electricity Subsidy
• Electricity Tariff
• TNB Imbalance Cost Pass Through (ICPT)