KOTA KINABALU: The electricity tariff hike in Sabah will create a domino effect with the people being the most impacted, says a Parti Warisan representative.
Although Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor had said that 99% of commercial users in Labuan and the state would not be affected by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB)’s tariff hike, Sri Tanjung assemblyman Justin Wong did not buy the explanation.
He said those affected would have to pass down the additional operation costs to the wholesalers, retailers and the consumers would get all by being the end users.
“The tariff hike will create a domino effect because it will affect the whole supply chain,” he said, in a statement on Thursday (Jan 4).
He said when the electricity bills of the manufacturers and factories come up to 300% higher, the prices of goods and services would eventually skyrocket.
“It is a terrible time considering the unstable economy and the high unemployment rate in Sabah,” Wong added.
At the state assembly sitting on Wednesday (Jan 3), Hajiji snapped at Wong, who accused the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government of being a failure, particularly after the tariff increase.
The Chief Minister questioned Wong whether there was merit over his contention that the GRS government had fallen short just because it did not object to the tariff hike.
Wong had, among other things, asked why there is an increase in the ICPT (Imbalance Cost Pass-Through) surcharge, which translates to a rise in electricity tariff when the power supply was still unstable in Sabah.
He said the people have been striving hard to tackle the rising cost of living while questioning why the state did not protest when there was an announcement for a tariff hike.
Wong continued to say that the 300% tariff hike - from 2.11 Sen/kWh to 7.21 Sen/kWh - (from Jan 1 to June 30, 2024) is too drastic for the people.
“This made the electricity tariff for commercial properties even higher than the Peninsular Malaysia, which is at 3.7 Sen/kWh for medium voltage users and 3.5 Sen/kWh for high voltage users.
“If the government’s decision to increase the tariff was to cover the cost of the increase of independent power producers (IPP) in Sabah, then the state government should spend the time and budget to focus on alternative power sources instead,” he added.
He called on the Sabah government to control the increase in electricity tariff, now that the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) had taken over the regulatory authority of the state’s electricity supply from the Energy Commission (EC).
“This means the Sabah government and ECoS have the authority to decide on the tariff now,” he added.
He also suggested to the state government to offer the same discounted rate given to foreign investor SK Nexilis or provide local industrial companies with a subsidy to cover the drastic increase in power tariff.
