KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), responding to the Government’s announcement of an imbalance cost pass-through (ICPT) rebate to customers of 1.52 sen/kWh in the Jan-June 2016 period, said the impact of the rebate’s implementation is neutral on TNB and will have no effect on its business operations and financial position.
The utility giant, which asked for the suspension of its share trading on Tuesday, said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia that the ICPT rebate was given following net savings of RM762.03mil.
The rebate will be applicable to all consumers except domestic consumers with monthly consumption of 300 kWh and below.
On the RM762.03mil net savings, TNB said the savings came from savings in fuel and generation costs for the period from July to December this year and higher piped gas price effective from next month.
On the fuel and generation cost savings, the company said these were mainly contributed by a reduction in the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for electricity generation supported by the high performance of coal power plants.
On the additional gas cost, TNB attributed it to the Government’s decision to further increase the piped gas price from the original RM15.20 per million metric British thermal units (mmBTU) in the base tariff to RM18.20 per mmBTU. This is part of the Government’s subsidy rationalisation plan.
The ICPT is a mechanism approved by the Government and implemented by the Energy Commission since Jan 1, 2014, as part of a wider regulatory reform called the incentive-based regulation or IBR.
The ICPT mechanism allows TNB to reflect changes in fuel and generation costs in consumer’s electricity tariff every six months, subject to Government’s decision and approval.
TNB’s closing price on Monday was RM13.46. Trading on its shares will resume from 9am on Wednesday, Dec 9.