TNB chief executive officer Baharin Din said the commission was evaluating the proposal.

He said TNB had identified 610 cases of electricity theft involving illegal bitcoin mining operators in 2018 but that the number surged to 7,209 cases last year.

“We presented our suggestions (to the Energy Commission) to encourage bitcoin mining operators to apply for legal electricity supply.

“We have proposed a special tariff for this purpose. I believe the commission is evaluating our proposal,” he said at a press conference held at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters here today.

The proposal followed a joint operation by TNB, MACC, and police to foil a syndicate mining bitcoin in 998 premises nationwide.

A total of 18 individuals were arrested and TNB estimated the total losses due to the electricity theft at RM2.3 billion.

The syndicate, which had been in operation since 2018, is believed to have bribed TNB officers to turn a blind eye to its members who bypassed or tampered with their electricity supply.

“The tampering technique that they used was quite sophisticated. You have to be technically competent to do that,” Baharin said.

Energy Commission chief operating officer Abdul Rahim Ibrahim said he was concerned about the electricity theft which had also caused sudden supply outages.

“There have also been fire incidents because of the illegal mining activity. It affects users who had nothing to do with the activity,” he said.