FMM disappointed by ‘minimal’ cut in electricity surcharge

The government has announced that electricity tariffs would be lowered for non-domestic users but remain unchanged for domestic users. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has expressed disappointment with the “minimal and unsurprising” reduction of an electricity surcharge.

FMM president Soh Thian Lai said the reduction from 17 sen/kWh to 16 sen for the second half of the year was expected, with coal prices having stabilised over the past year.

He said manufacturers sought greater transparency about how the government calculated the surcharge.

FMM called for small and medium-sized enterprises to be entitled to a lower surcharge, similar to that on companies in water services, which will be reduced to 2.7 sen/kWh from 3.7 sen/kWh.

“Micro-SMEs account for 98% of businesses in Malaysia, employing 7.3 million of our workforce, and also contribute to 37.4% of the country’s gross domestic product. The continued high surcharge environment would not be tenable for SMEs to remain competitive in the long run,” he said in a statement.

Soh hoped the government would provide a “competitive and attractive” industrial tariff rate compared with regional neighbours.

The energy transition and water transformation ministry has announced that electricity tariffs would be lowered from July 1 for non-domestic users but remain unchanged for domestic users.

Water and sewage operators, as well as specific agriculture and low voltage non-domestic users, will enjoy a reduced rate of 2.7 sen/kWh from 3.7 sen/kWh. Other commercial and industrial users will see a decrease in their rate to 16 sen/kWh from the previous 17 sen/kWh.

About 34,000 users are expected to benefit from this reduced tariff rate, said the ministry.