Companies to pay more for electricity from July 1

According to the Energy Commission (EC), electricity demand growth has been declining due to structural changes in the economy and increases in the electricity tariff.

KUALA LUMPUR: Companies will have to pay more for their power supply from July 1 to December 2018 following the implementation of a surcharge of 1.35 sen per kWh due to higher fuel and generation costs.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd said on Friday that households would be not affected by the surcharge under the imbalance cost pass-through (ICPT) mechanism.

The power giant said the government had approved the continued implementation of the ICPT mechanism which allows TNB to reflect changes in fuel and generation costs in consumer’s electricity tariff every six months.

TNB explained the average base tariff remains unchanged at 39.45 sen/kWh. However, due to  the higher fuel and generation costs in January to June 30, the additional cost of RM698.19 million or 1.35 sen/kWh ICPT surcharge, will be pass-through via the ICPT mechanism.

“Domestic customers with monthly consumption below 300kWh will not be affected by this ICPT implementation.

“For domestic customers with monthly consumption above 300kWh, the ICPT surcharge will be funded by Kumpulan Wang Industri Elektrik (KWIE),” it said.
The ICPT is a mechanism approved by the government and implemented by the Energy Commission since Jan 1, 2014 as part of a wider regulatory reform called the Incentive Based Regulation (IBR). 

“TNB also wishes to inform that the impact of ICPT implementation is neutral on TNB and will not have any effect to its business operations and financial position,” it said.