Electricity tariff remains unchanged until year end (Updated)

PETALING JAYA: The electricity tariff for domestic consumers will remain unchanged for the next six months despite higher costs, Science, Technology, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said.
She said the government would utilise an existing RM114 million fund from the Kumpulan Wang Industri Elektrik to absorb any additional surcharges on domestic users up to December this year.
"The ministry will absorb the cost of these higher surcharges in generations so domestic consumers will not be affected," she told a press conference after attending a town hall session on re-industry, here, today.
Yeo was commenting on worries that the public may be required to pay extra for their electricity usage after Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), on June 29, issued a statement that non-domestic users were required to pay an additional surcharge of 1.35 sen per kilowatt per hour (kWh).
This is on top of the average Base Tariff of 39.45 sen/kWh which remained unchanged. TNB has however stated that domestic consumers would not be affected by the additional charges.
PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, on July 2, lamented that the increase in tariffs for the commercial sector would directly affect both domestic users, claiming traders would use this as an excuse not to lower prices despite the zero-rating of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Responding to this, Yeo said she would explain more on the matter in Parliament next week.