Govt to Review Immediate Mitigation Steps Over Rising Electricity Bills Tomorrow, Says PM Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 — The MADANI Government will convene a special meeting tomorrow to examine immediate mitigation measures aimed at easing the impact of rising electricity bills on affected households, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced today.

Anwar said that upon returning from official visits to India and the Maldives, his immediate attention focused on public concerns regarding recent increases in electricity costs, stressing that the government has taken note of the complaints and is acting swiftly to address them.

He reiterated that targeted subsidy policies will remain in place to safeguard the majority of the population. Approximately 80 per cent of domestic consumers using no more than 600 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month remain fully protected and unaffected by higher rates stemming from increased fuel costs this year.

“However, the haze conditions and hotter weather recently have driven an increase in electricity consumption among some households, causing their monthly usage to exceed the 600 kWh threshold and thus subjecting them to the Automatic Fuel Cost Adjustment (AFA),” Anwar said in a statement.

To address the situation, the Prime Minister said tomorrow’s special meeting will bring together the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA), the Energy Commission (ST), Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to formulate immediate relief measures.

Anwar emphasized that the MADANI Government will ensure all targeted subsidy initiatives are executed fairly and reasonably, with public welfare and the interests of the people remaining the top priority.

–NMT