Govt extends electricity bill discounts to Dec 31

PETALING JAYA: The government has agreed to extend the discount period for electricity bills of domestic users across the country for a further three months to Dec 31.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said as a responsible government that is sensitive to the needs of the people, it has agreed to extend the discount until Dec 31 for all domestic users in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

"With this decision, a total of 7.66 million domestic users in the peninsula will continue to enjoy the electric bill discount between 2% and 5% from Oct 1 until Dec 31 as an extension announced by the Prime Minister on March 27 under the government's economic stimulus," he said in a statement on Thursday (July 2).

On June 20, the government announced the Bantuan Prihatin Elektrik (BPE) as an additional aid in the form of free electricity of up to RM231 for the three months during the movement control order (MCO) from April until end of June.

Shamsul Anuar said that the extension also applies for electric users between 601 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and 900kWh, who are enjoying a 10% discount under BPE.

"Sabah and Sarawak domestic users will also continue to receive a discount of 2% until Dec 31, which will benefit about 520,000 users in Sabah and 580,000 users in Sarawak.

"The three-month discount extension for users in the peninsula will be from funds from the Kumpulan Wang Industri Elektrik (KWIE), totalling about RM392mil.

"The discounts for Sabah and Sarawak will be paid by the Finance Ministry with an allocation worth RM6mil.

"This brings the total cost involved for offering discounts from April until December to RM2.62bil," he added.