Malaysians could be in for a double whammy in the middle of this year. TNB’s electricity tariff is up for review in June. PLUS Malaysia Bhd hopes to conclude discussions with the government on new toll rates by the same month.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said lower costs for petroleum, coal and gas did not translate to lower tariff. “This is due to the currency exchange and weaker ringgit resulting in the paying more for fuel and power generation costs,” he said when answering a question by Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (DAP-Beruas) in Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.
He said the tariff had been fixed for a four-year period beginning 2014 until 2017 at a rate of 38.53 sen per kilo watt hour.
The government has thrice given rebates to consumers since last year through savings from the renegotiation of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and Imbalance Cost Pass-Through mechanisms.
A rebate of 2.25 sen/kWh was given from March 1 to June 2015, while a similar rebate was given for July to December last year. For the period from January to June this year, consumers enjoy a rebate of 1.52 sen/kWh.
However, The Star quoted Ongkili as saying on Dec 9 last year: “But, of course, they have been knocking on our door to revise the tariff, but we will see that in six months’ time.”
In June, the six-month rebate ends and TNB may push for a tariff revision. If the government yields to the power supplier’s demand, consumers will be looking at higher electricity bills.
Meanwhile, Bernama reported the UEM Group has set a timeline by June for PLUS to submit a proposal relating to toll rates and conclude its decision with the ministry.
UEM Group’s managing editor and chief executive, Datuk Izzaddin Idris told The New Straits Times: “For the time being, we are waiting for the government to decide on the toll increase that was supposed to be effective in January this year.
“We have not submitted anything. We are planning to have that discussion at some stage, depending on the government’s decision.”
Plus, the expressway arm of UEM Group, has five highway concessions —North-South Expressway (NSE), New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), Federal Highway Route 2 (FHR2), Seremban Port-Dickson Highway, North-South Expressway Central Link (NSECL), Malaysia-Singapore Second Link (MSSL), Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE) and the Penang Bridge.
At the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said the government has no plans to review the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate as the current six per cent is reasonable.
He said prior to implementation of the GST, a detailed study had been made, to ensure the rate was most suited to the prevailing economic conditions.
An electric tariff hike and revised toll charges, coupled with the GST at six per cent, and we will be looking at another round of price increases. -http://www.theheatmalaysia.com/
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