Household power bill surcharge exemption cost govt RM5.8bil this year, says Takiyuddin

BUKIT GANTANG: Some nine million domestic consumer accounts in the country are exempted from paying the imbalance cost pass-through (ICPT) surcharge, apart from the two sen per kilowatt hour (kWh) rebate given by the government, says Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan.

He said the exemption for the January to June period this year caused the government to incur additional costs of RM5.8bil from RM7bil, while RM1.2bil was distributed to the industries.

"These are the huge industries that make millions in profit a month and they have been told to cover the subsidy for the people.

"In other countries, it is even worse, but here, the government still provides subsidies. This is good enough for our people and we hope the subsidies will continue, God willing," he told a press conference at the Sungai Tinggi Multipurpose Hall near Sungai Kerang on Tuesday (July 12).

On June 24, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), in a statement said the ICPT mechanism would continue to be implemented for the period July 1 to Dec 31, 2022, in line with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob's announcement that the government had decided not to increase electricity and water tariff rates in the peninsula.

Takiyuddin said the government, in setting electricity tariffs in the country used the Incentive Based Regulation (IBR) and ICPT mechanisms, which meant the cost borne by TNB for energy.

"The cost for electricity generation from January to June this year involves RM7bil. These additional costs cover the purchase of coal, gas and so forth, so these costs should be borne by consumers but the government decided as many as nine million domestic consumer accounts are exempted from paying the ICPT surcharge.

"We have to see how much is 100, 200 to 300 kWh and from there we will know how much the government subsidy is, while the industry and commercial sector need to pay 3.7 sen kWh when they should be paying 11.81 sen per kWh," he said.

He said the subsidy on electricity bill would be recorded in the bill next month. – Bernama