KOTA-KINABALU: Sabah West Coast Wise Consumers Association (PPBS) welcomes the government’s announcement regarding the maintenance of electricity tariff rates for domestic and non-domestic consumers.
Its president, David Chan, said the announcement was a relief to the people, especially those involved in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (PMKS).
He said that the maintenance of tariffs implemented in the states of Sabah and Labuan for the first six months, which is January 1 to June 30, is an action that can help the people in dealing with the current cost of living.
“We also support the Government’s decision to provide additional subsidies to help domestic and non-domestic consumers under the CM1 and ID1 tariff categories amounting to RM212 million for a period of six months from January 2023 until June 2023,” he said.
The Energy Commission (ST) announced that under the ICPT mechanism, fuel costs and electricity generation costs will be reviewed every six (6) months and released to electricity consumers in the form of rebates or surcharges depending on the savings or cost increases involved after taking into account government subsidies .
The increase in the cost of generation is a string from the increase in the cost of diesel fuel and medium fuel oil which is part of the fuel for electricity generation in Sabah and Labuan apart from natural gas in the global market and it is beyond the control of Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and the Government.
It is estimated that 99 percent or more than 656,000 of the total electricity consumers will not experience this increase in generation costs.
David made this statement after paying a courtesy call on SESB Chief Executive Officer Ir Ts Mohd Yaakob Hj Jaafar here on Thursday.
Also present were Deputy General Manager of SESB Customer Service Fauziah K Hamid, Head of Corporate Communications Jamdin Abdul Razik, Head of Regulatory Economics and Management SESB Nor Nasaliza Abdul Rafar, Secretary of PPBS Thecla Oswald, Head of Information PPBS, Liza Din and senior officers of SESB
Meanwhile, David asked the people to take advantage of the government’s tolerance and consideration to take wise measures to save electricity consumption.
“The Smart Consumers Association is also ready to work with all parties, especially SESB and the Energy Commission to start an energy saving campaign so that awareness can be spread among consumers and the people,” he said.
He said that the government’s move would at least help ease the people’s burden due to the recent increase in the prices of various goods in addition to the uncertain economic situation.
