Govt raises electricity bill protection threshold to 800kWh

Pakatan Harapan leaders Anwar Ibrahim and Fadillah Yusof announced today that the government will raise the electricity bill protection threshold for domestic consumers from 600kWh to 800kWh per month. This new measure will be implemented until the end of the year. The move aims to alleviate the cost of living pressures faced by Malaysian households, as recent hot weather and haze have led to increased electricity consumption.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister, stated that the higher electricity bills are being charged due to the Automatic Fuel Cost Adjustment (AFA) mechanism, which adjusts electricity generation fuel costs according to market prices and foreign exchange rates. As of September, the AFA rate is 3.67 sen per kWh, and fuel prices remain above the baseline due to global factors.

Anwar emphasized that the government is working closely with the Energy Commission and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) to address the impact of higher electricity bills on households. He thanked these organizations for their swift implementation of the measure. The government will continue to monitor fuel costs and energy market conditions closely to ensure that future electricity tariff decisions strike a balance between affordability, the cost of living, electricity supply security, and the sustainability of the country's energy sector.