PUTRAJAYA: The Energy Commission (ST) has assured that about 85% of domestic households will experience little impact on their electricity bills following the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Incentive, amid the current global energy crisis.
Chief executive officer Siti Safinah Salleh said the incentive for residential consumers will remain at a reduced rate for consumption of up to 1,000 kWh and will remain neutral for consumption of up to 600 kWh.
"That means that 85% of domestic or household consumers will remain at a stable or neutral level in terms of their electricity bill impact.
"The incentive also applies to low-voltage non-domestic consumers for consumption of up to 200 kWh, and these measures, we hope, will help to mitigate some of the expected inflationary impacts from the crisis that is occurring today," she said at the ST Annual Regulatory Review (STARR) 2026 here on Wednesday (April 1).
Also present was Bernama Deputy Editor-in-Chief (Economic News Services) Harlina Samson.
Siti Safinah said Malaysia is not fully insulated from the global energy crisis at this stage, as about 80% of the natural gas used for power generation in Malaysia is sourced domestically.
"That means it is largely not coming from the Middle East. It is insulated from the global energy markets.
"However, there is still an impact because it is still tied to the MRP or Market Reference Price, so there will still be an impact on that price, but that is the ceiling. So the ceiling is lower than what would be the exposure based on global market prices," she said.
Meanwhile, Siti Safinah said the EC expects steady growth in energy demand, alongside expanded energy efficiency and conservation measures in 2026.
"Electricity demand is still primarily driven by the warmer weather that we anticipate in Malaysia and commercial sector growth, including new data centres coming into operation, while gas demand will be underpinned by power generation, with moderate increases in industrial consumption.
"We also anticipate an increasingly challenging energy supply landscape, where renewable energy generation continues to grow despite low rainfall, which has been suppressing our hydropower capacities to date," she said.
She reminded consumers to use energy efficiently amid the current global energy crisis.
"Everyone really needs to start looking into energy efficiency initiatives and measures, and also conserving energy.
"The other thing that we are mindful of, and this is also due to external factors, is that we are heading into an even hotter climate.
"For Malaysia, that means this is when demand starts to rise, and typically that will happen, we anticipate, in May because of the hotter climate, and especially in households, cooling and air conditioning will be turned on even more," she said. – Bernama
