TARIFF HIKE SOON, warns PKR: Forms panel to probe soaring electric bills, digital meters

UPDATED VIDEOS INSERTED PETALING JAYA - Amid a growing mountain of complaints about high electricity costs and the near certainty that Prime Minister Najib Razak will soon approve another tariff hike, Parti Keadilan Rakyat has set-up a high-level committee to probe the sources and causes of the country's "exorbitant" power bills.

Led by vice president Chua Jui Meng, MP for Wangsa Maju Tan Kee Kwong, MP for Kelana Jaya Wong Chen and Selangor assemblyman for Sri Andalas Xavier Jayakumar, the committee will first tackle the jump in costs they said was apparent following the installation of new digital meters some years ago.

"In 2011, there was a hike of 7.12% in the electric and we believe there will be another review either at the end of this year or next year where they are going to increase again. On top of that, they (the government) are considering a fuel-cost-pass-through, the FCPT which means to say if gas price goes up, they will pass it on to consumers. On top of that, we have this digital meter issue. This is the biggest burden, more than the Tenaga (tariff) increases, possibly more than the FCPT. The meter is the main culprit for the burden on the people of Malaysia, 8 million meters are affected," Jui Meng told a joint press conference on Wednesday.

"The small consumer is suffering. For example I know of a person in Wangsa, he used to pay RM200. Now, he's paying RM600. The problem is the pride of the TNB and the government. What can we do, what can one pertson do -  if we don't pay, they will cut off (our power). So here, we are providing one avenue for a solution, galvanize the consumers together onto a platform to see whether there can be a way out of the problem. The people are suffering in addition to the many high costs... (we are here) to provide the public, the consumers, the individuals, the businessmen, the SMEs a channel to look for a way of out this big problem and it is going to get even bigger," said Kee Kwong.

Ministers contradict each other

Jui Meng's warning of an imminent tariff hike follows a denial issued 2 weeks ago by newly-minted Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Maximus Ongkili. According to Maximum, there was no decision yet and the government still needed time to sort out key issues in the Fuel Cost Pass Through (FCPT) mechanism before implementing it.

"We have not made the decision yet to increase the tariff, or to let go, pass through and who should absolve the fuel cost," Maximus had told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

However, his own deputy Mahdzir Khalid had just days before said TNB would implement the FCPT mechanism next year.

Asked to comment on this, Maximus said: "Its a question that government yet to decide... I think he has corrected the statement. And the issue of whether we want to pass it to the consumers, and how much and when, its the decision of cabinet which has yet to (undertake)."

In the run up to the recently-concluded general election, Najib had promised not to further pass the burden of rising costs of living onto the ordinary citizens but to look at other ways to bring down government subsidies. This would include slashing subsidies to 'fat cats' independent power producers - many of whom enjoy lucrative concessions from the government, which have been blamed for the current high costs of power ordinary Malaysians have to pay for.

Unpopular digital meters stopped prior to GE - will it resume now?

Wong Chen pointed out that digital meters were so "unpopular" and had stirred up so much consumer dissatisfaction that former Energy Minister Peter Chin had stopped the installation of such meters in the run-up to the May 5 general election.

"This is not a new problem. It has been going on for years and it is widespread enough for the Minister to stop installing digital meters but now that the GE is over, there is no sound from the authorities. TNB has taken the position that the higher electricity bills are due to faulty analogue meters in measuring the actual rate of electricity consumption. However, it is not unreasonable to believe that the new digital meters may be overly sensitive to current flow and this may be the reason for an increase in electricity bills," Wong Chen told a press conference on Wednesday.

"Whatever the reason for the higher bills, it is clear that the public have been left in the dark about the new digital meter scheme. There has been very little disclosure about the meter replacement drive, for example, it is unknown how many meters have been installed thus far, and we are unaware of the costs for acquiring them. Neither do we know how reliable and durable these new digital meters are."

Would you be willing to pay RM20?

Calling on the government-controlled utility to provide "greater accountability and transparency", the PKR leaders proposed the following -

(1) that TNB makes public information the number of analogue meters that have been replaced by digital meters. TNB should also disclose the number of digital meters that have been reported as faulty as this would give the public a better idea as to the reliability and durability of the new meters, they said.

(2) the formation of an independent body to take onsite energy measurements in co-operation with the TNB, so that accurate consumption rates can be calculated to gauge the accuracy of the digital meters. To this end, the PKR committee will put up an online poll to estimate if consumers would be willing to pay RM20 to ascertain the accuracy of their meters.

"We will launch an online polling campaign to allow members of the public to vote if they would like to have an energy test for a small fee to determine the actual electricity rate. Ultimately, such a verification process will ensure fairness to the customer and increase confidence in TNB," said Wong Chen.

The PKR electricity campaign will stretch over a 6-week period. The panel will meet weekly to discuss the feedback obtained from the public through their surveys and embark on discussions and forums with consumers.

The federal government is still studying a proposal to passing the rising cost of fuel prices to consumers, thus there is no plans to hike up electricity tariffs for now.

Malaysia Chronicle