KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (PN-Pagoh) urged the government to reject the proposal to increase the electricity tariff from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).
Muhyiddin, who is also the Perikatan Nasional chairman, said that usually before deciding on any increase in the electricity tariff, the matter would be brought to the Cabinet and not announced by TNB.
He said that despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s promise that any increase would only apply to industries and “extremely rich” people, the increase could potentially affect domestic users.
“What guarantee does the government have that 85 per cent of domestic users will not be affected? Can we really trust this? If the operating costs of companies increase due to higher electricity rates, they will inevitably pass on the costs to the people, who will ultimately bear the burden of rising prices for goods and services,” Muhyiddin said.
In December, TNB announced that a new tariff schedule with a base tariff of 5.62 sen per kilowatt-hour for Peninsular Malaysia under Regulatory Period 4 (RP4) was proposed to be implemented starting July 1.
Under Regulatory Period 3 (RP3) between 2022 and 2024, the base tariff was set at 39.95 sen/kWh.
In response, Anwar said any increase in the electricity tariff should not “jeopardise the livelihoods of the majority of people” as the government won’t allow an increase in tariffs that could affect the people.
Last week, he confirmed that the planned increase won’t affect 85 per cent of Malaysians as it would only be applicable to industry players and the wealthy.
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