However, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Maximus Ongkili added that electricity tariffs in Sabah and Labuan would only remain unchanged until June next year.
Ongkili said the decision to keep the rates unchanged was made during a cabinet meeting on Dec 13.
The tariff for Sabah and Labuan is 34.52 sen/kWh while in the peninsula, the rate is 38.53 sen/kWh.
Ongkili said the meeting had decided the government would absorb the electricity tariff rebate cost of 1.52 sen/kWh and the 0.28 sen/kWh surcharge.
In Kuala Lumpur, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) today announced the electricity tariff in the current tariff schedule for peninsular Malaysia would be maintained from Jan 1, 2018, until Dec 31, 2020. The same electricity tariff schedule has been used since Jan 1, 2014.
Ongkili said: “The total electricity tariff rebate is RM929.37 million from Jan 1 to June 30, 2018. In total, the government would have given rebates of RM6.3 billion to consumers in the peninsular from Mar 2015 to June 2018.”
Ongkili said the fixed tariff would not affect power supply and that TNB had planned several electricity supply development programmes based on the latest technology to ensure sustainable supply.
The tariffs in Sabah and Labuan, Ongkili added, had been fixed until June because the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) had not utilised incentive-based regulation mechanisms like those used by TNB in the peninsular.
He also said there was no plan to hand over the state power company back to the Sabah government.
“We can, however, discuss the matter if the state government is willing to pay for SESB’s assets of RM8 billion and cover other costs borne by Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s (TNB) subsidiary,” Ongkili added, in response to talk that SESB, said to be on the verge of bankruptcy, would be given back to the state government.
TNB currently holds a 82.75% stake in SESB while the rest is held by the state government.
The minister also clarified that his previous statement concerning SESB did not mean the power company was bankrupt but that it was in a financially challenging situation.
He said the fact that SESB’s assets were worth RM8 billion showed the company was still strong and could sustain itself.
Future of SESB hinges on discussions between ministries, TNB
Government launches project to reduce Sabah’s power outage woes