Minister hits brakes on power outage rebate day after reported assurance

 

A rebate for users affected by the major power outage in the peninsula last Wednesday is not guaranteed, said Energy and Natural Resources Minister Takiyuddin Hassan.

Instead, he said this would be subject to findings of a probe - which will be completed next month - that will determine among others whether Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) had met its guaranteed service level (GSL) requirements.

The clarification comes a day after Takiyuddin (above) was widely reported as saying that affected users will be getting a rebate.

This is mostly based on a Bernama report with the headline "Electricity supply disruption: Affected consumers to enjoy rebate - Takiyuddin" which was published by multiple news outlets including Malaysiakini.

However, a check on a Berita Harian report from the same press conference, showed that the minister had included a disclaimer that the rebates were subject to certain terms and calculations.

Standard set by Energy Commission

In his statement today, Takiyuddin explained that the GSL was a standard set by the Energy Commission which requires TNB to ensure the best possible supply of electricity.

Failure to comply with the GSL will result in penalties in the form of rebates to affected users.

However, the minister said that during Wednesday's power outage, power was fully restored within two hours and 21 minutes, which does not exceed the GSL level approved in September 2020.

"A final decision on the eligibility of users to get rebates is subject to the investigations which are underway," he added.

Besides determining whether TNB had met its GSL requirements, the probe also seeks to determine the cause and effect of the power disruption.

The power outage on Wednesday affected several states in the peninsula, including most of the Klang Valley.

TNB said it was due to an equipment failure at the Yong Peng North Main Input Substation in Johor. - Mkini