KUALA LUMPUR – The government will be spending RM6.51 billion in electricity tariff subsidies this year to ensure that there is no increase in electricity tariffs to help the people deal with inflation.
Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Ali Biju said this following an announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on June 24 that the government will maintain a rebate of two sen per kilowatt hour (kWh) for all domestic consumers and a surcharge of RM3.70 sen/kWh to all non-domestic consumers in the peninsula from July 1 until December 31.
“This means that all users in the peninsula will pay electricity tariffs at the same level as they have been paying since January 2022,” he said this during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Negara today.
He was replying to a question from Senator Khairil Nizam Khirudin who wanted to know the amount of subsidies that have been and will be allocated by the government through the Energy Commission to ensure that there is no increase in electricity tariffs to help the public cope with inflationary pressures.
Ali said that from January 2021 until last June, the government had allocated RM715 million to maintain a rebate of two sen/kWh to all domestic consumers even though a surcharge of RM3.70 sen/kWh should be imposed on all electricity consumers in the peninsula starting January 2022.
Meanwhile, he also said any subsequent electricity tariff decisions will be based on the imbalance cost pass-through mechanism at the end of this year, which depended on the price of fuel supply at the global level.
He said his ministry through the Energy Commission and Finance Ministry will study the possibility of providing targeted energy subsidies. – Bernama, August 11, 2022
