Price of electricity to go up

 

Keep tabs on your usage: Users can estimate their monthly electricity bills through the electricity tariff calculator available online. — FAIHAN GHANI/ The Star

PETALING JAYA: Those paying electricity bills of between RM230 and RM738 will end up paying more from Jan 1.

The increase could be between RM12 and RM32 under new electricity tariffs announced by the Energy Commission yesterday for the period of Jan 1 to June 30, 2024.

However, the commission said the new rates will only affect about 15% of domestic consumers in Peninsular Malaysia.

The rest, totalling some seven million domestic consumers, will not be affected, it added.

The two-sen rebate per kWh remains for domestic users using 600 kilowatt per hour (kWh) or less.

However, about 1.2 million consumers using between 601kWh and 1,500kWh will now lose the RM12-RM32 rebate, leading to an increase in their bills.

There will be no change for those consuming 1,501kWh and more, as the surcharge of 10sen per kWh remains.

This group involves those whose electricity bills amount to RM738.20 or more.

“Some 8.2 million domestic users will continue to enjoy the subsidy from the government.

“For non-domestic users, the surcharges remain,” the commission said in a statement.

This adjustment is part of the government’s strategy to implement targeted subsidies.

It said the government agreed to revise electricity tariffs under the Imbalance Cost Pass Through mechanism.

This also entails targeted subsidies for users in the peninsula except for the Kulim Hi-Tech Park in Kedah.

For non-domestic users in the commercial and low voltage industrial, specific agriculture, water and sewerage categories, the surcharge remains at 3.70sen/kWh.

Non-domestic users besides the categories above will continue to be imposed a surcharge of 17 sen/kWh.

The government has allocated RM1.9bil in subsidies to minimise the impact from the surcharge for the first six months of next year.

The Commission advised users to refer to their monthly electricity bills to monitor their usage and subsidies given.

Apart from that, users can also estimate their monthly electricity bills for the future through the electricity tariff calculator which is available online.

National Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad had said in June that the government has allocated RM5.2bil for the electricity subsidy, in line with the tariff adjustment. - Star