Malaysia will introduce an electricity billing approach based on actual consumption from next year, with large-scale users such as data centres and industries expected to pay higher tariffs to ensure a fairer distribution of costs.
Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the Energy Commission (ST) had been tasked with conducting a detailed study to determine the most suitable approach, including the implementation of a “user pays” system.
“Those who consume more electricity, particularly data centres, industries and large-scale users, will pay higher tariff rates,” he told the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Azli Yusof (PH-Shah Alam) on targeted measures to keep electricity tariffs at reasonable levels.
Fadillah said the proposed system aimed to ensure a fairer distribution of costs while protecting domestic consumers from bearing an excessive financial burden.
He also identified several factors behind higher electricity bills for some domestic consumers in Peninsular Malaysia, including rising global fuel prices amid geopolitical tensions in West Asia, prolonged hot weather and reduced generation capacity at several power plants.
He said security disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy trade route, had affected fuel costs, including those of natural gas and coal used to generate electricity.
Meanwhile, prolonged hot weather had reduced hydropower generation, while scheduled maintenance at several coal-fired power plants had increased reliance on imported natural gas.
Fadillah stressed that the government’s priority since the global energy supply crisis began had been to ensure that rising costs were not passed on entirely to the public.
Separately, he said the government had announced on Sept 18 an expansion of electricity bill protections for domestic consumers, effective from Sept 1 to Dec 31, 2026.
Under the measure, households consuming up to 800 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month — equivalent to an estimated monthly bill of RM328 or less — would be fully exempt from adjustments to the Automatic Fuel Adjustment (AFA) surcharge, Sales and Service Tax (SST) and retail charges.
