KOTA KINABALU: The power tariff imposed on consumers for a six-month period from Jan 1 is at a rate of 7.21sen/kWh and not RM7.21 as claimed on social media, says Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) chief executive officer Mohd Yaakob Jaafar.
He stressed that the rate was in sen instead of ringgit and that there had been some confusion among social media users.
Mohd Yaakob said the rate is being implemented in Sabah and Labuan until June 30.
The rate came about following the Imbalance Cost Pass Through (ICPT) mechanism that was being used, he said in a statement yesterday.
“ICPT is a mechanism approved by the Federal Government and implemented by the Energy Commission since Jan 1, 2022, under the Incentive-Based Regulation (IBR) framework.”
However, he added that the ICPT surcharge was not applied in 2022 because the cost was absorbed by the government.
“On Jan 1, 2023, the ICPT surcharge started to be charged at a rate of 10.04sen/kWh for a period of six months (till June 2023). The rate dropped to 2.11sen/kWh for the period July 1 to Dec 31, 2023.
“Subsequently, the surcharge imposed from Jan 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024 is 7.21sen/kWh,” he said.
Mohd Yaakob said the government had agreed to cover the electricity subsidy cost of RM161.7mil to certain categories of users to minimise the impact of ICPT.
This means that almost all low-voltage domestic and non-domestic users would not be affected by the latest implementation of the ICPT surcharge.
“The ICPT mechanism allows SESB as an electricity utility to overcome changes (either increase or decrease) in fuel costs and electricity generation costs to be released to consumers through electricity tariffs every six months for the purpose of adjustments in the form of rebates or surcharges.”
He said the Energy Commission, or now the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS), will review the rebate every six months in its role as the regulatory body.
