The government has raised the electricity bill subsidy protection threshold from 600kWh to 800kWh per month, effective for electricity consumption from this month until December next year.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the move was an immediate measure to ease the financial pressure faced by households.
Under the expanded protection, domestic consumers using up to 800kWh of electricity a month will be exempted from the Automatic Fuel Adjustment (AFA), Retail Charge and Sales and Services Tax (SST).
Anwar said the recent haze and hotter weather had pushed up electricity consumption among some households, causing their monthly usage to exceed the previous 600kWh threshold and resulting in unusually high bills.
“The government will continue to closely monitor fuel costs and current energy market conditions to ensure any decisions on electricity tariffs take into account the balance between affordability and the people’s cost of living, electricity supply security and the sustainability of the country’s energy sector,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
Anwar had earlier chaired a special meeting on the electricity issue, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, senior Finance Ministry officials, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) management and the Energy Commission (ST).
The meeting was held amid growing public concern over rising electricity bills, particularly among households with higher consumption and the implementation of the AFA fuel cost adjustment mechanism.
On Wednesday, Anwar, who is also finance minister, said around 80% of domestic consumers using no more than 600kWh a month remained protected and had not been affected by rate increases linked to higher fuel costs this year.
Concerns over electricity bills had gained traction on social media in recent months, with users claiming their bills had risen sharply.
Anwar also expressed his appreciation to TNB, the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry (PETRA) and the Energy Commission for their roles in enabling the measure to be implemented quickly.
