Power tariffs reduced from March 1

PUTRAJAYA: The power tariff for consumers in Peninsular Malaysia will be reduced by 2.25 sen/kWh from Mar 1 to June 30 this year.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said the decision was made at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday after it was informed that the cost of Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) savings could be passed on to consumers in the form of cheaper tariff amounting to RM726.99mil after taking into account the drop in global fuel prices and generation costs.

He said the savings of ICPT costs would reduce the electricity bills of domestic users using in excess of 300 kWh a month, and all consumers in other categories such as commercial and industry.

“Nevertheless, domestic consumers using below 300kWh of electricity a month are not affected by the decision,” Ongkili told a media conference Wednesday.

The ICPT mechanism allows Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) to reflect changes (either an increase or reduction) of the uncontrollable fuel costs in the electricity tariff every six months. In the event of a reduction in fuel costs, TNB will also pass-through the reduction to customers.

Ongkili said domestic users could see savings of between RM13.50 and RM45 in their monthly bills.

“The savings will depend on the amount of (electricity) usage,” he said.

He added that the basis of the ICPT savings totalling RM726.99mil among others was due to greater usage of coal as fuel compared to other fuels like Medium Fuel Oil (MFO) and distillates, besides coal-fired plants being more efficient in power generation.

He said the ICPT cost saving was translated into a tariff reduction of 2.25 sen/KWH which amounted to 5.8% of TNB’s average tariff of 38.53 sen/kWh.

On domestic users using less than 300kWh monthly, he said they were not affected by the reduction because the Lifeline Band 0-200kWh had remained at 21.8 sen/kWh since 1997 while for the 201-300kWh band, the rate had been maintained at 33.4 sen/kWh since 2009. – Bernama