KUCHING: The Ministry of Utilities will continue to work with Sarawak Energy to reduce the economic burden of the people during this challenging time.
Assistant Minister of Utilities (Rural Electricity), Datuk Liwan Lagang said that the primary form of the assistance was from a subsidy by the state for its domestic consumers that was expected to total up to RM77.8 million.
“It will benefit about 590,000 households from April until September. This is from the 23 percent automatic discount for domestic consumption provided by the state government under the Sarawakku Sayang Covid-19 assistance programme announced in April,” he explained.
“For Sarawakians, this is in addition to the federal government’s two percent tariff discount under ‘Rangsangan Ekonomi Prihatin’ to benefit all of Malaysia. This is anticipated to amount to RM6.8 million for the people of Sarawak,” he said in a press statement on Sunday (June 21).
“This means Sarawakians will see their electricity bills discounted by 25 percent amounting to an estimated total of RM84.6 million in subsidy from April until September.
Lagang pointed out that customers outside Sarawak did not enjoy the 23 percent discount provided by the state government.
“The recently announced waiver of charges for consumption of electricity for Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) customers for bills up to RM77 is a rebate under the Electricity Industry Fund, established under Incentive-Based Regulation (IBR).
“This fund with pass-through mechanism for tariff provides a buffer from factors such as price volatility for fossil fuels of coal and gas as such savings or surcharges due to lower or higher cost arising from this fluctuation are then passed on to consumers,” he explained.
Lagang explained that electricity tariff rates were not subject to the same fluctuation due to price stabilisation and affordability from large hydro generation.
“The rates are based on fixed-tariffs without the pass-through mechanism imposed on consumers in Malaya.
“Sarawak’s electricity customers are protected from long-term price escalation as they are not subject to any pass-through mechanism,” he added.
He also assured that Sarawak Energy’s domestic customers enjoyed the lowest average tariffs in Malaysia — about 40 percent lower than the average tariff in Malaya.
“The state government will continue to focus on ensuring that Sarawakians are provided with affordable, reliable and renewable power,” he said.
Last Saturday (June 20), Federal Minister of Energy Natural Resources, Datuk Dr Shamsul Annuar introduced ‘Bantuan Prihatin Elektric Tambahan’ which revealed a total of RM942 million in discounts and rebates for domestic users’ electricity bills in Malaya.
