KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) has proposed the government to defer the implementation of the revised electricity tariff surcharge for medium voltage (MV) and high voltage (HV) industrial users that came into effect on January 1, 2023.
Its President Tan Sri T.C Goh said Huazong has received numerous complaints from local manufacturers who complained that the upward revision by more than 566% to between 20 sen and 27.7 sen/kWh from the 3.7 sen/kWh currently was too drastic and unbearable for them.
He cited for example, one manufacturer in Selangor has lamented that following the upward revision of the power tariff by 20 sen/kWh by Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), his electricity bills for last month (for 308,586 kWh) was a whopping RM61,717; under the previous power tariff of 3.7 sen/kWh, he only had to pay RM 11,417.68 for the same amount of consumption. In other words, he now had to pay an additional of RM 50,299.52 or an equivalent of five times more.
Goh said many local manufacturers have lamented that such a drastic increase in the power tariff will inevitably have “a profound impact” on every industry, regardless of size. This is especially true with increase in minimum wage brought about by the recently revised Employment Act 1955 (Amended 2022), spiraling costs of raw materials, bank interest rates, the impact of stiff competition in the global market, etc.
“Such an unfavourable development is certainly a severe blow to a majority of our local manufacturers and businesses, who are currently still struggling to recover from the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the last three years!” he said in a statement issued today.
He thus hoped the government would be more considerate with their plights and to temporarily suspend the implementation of the revised electricity tariff surcharge for medium voltage (MV) and high voltage (HV) industrial users.
He also urged the government to engage with the representatives of the local manufacturers and businesses, in order to better understand their plights over the revised power tariff, and to find ‘win-win’ solutions for all quarters concerned.
Goh who is also President of The Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) went on to note that, the government had previously announced that Medium voltage (MV) and high voltage (HV) users among industry participants including multinational corporations (MNCs) will face a surcharge at the rate of 20 sen/kWj for the period of January 1 to June 30, 2023.
Some local manufacturers and businesses have estimated that such a drastic revision would result in more than 40% increase in their electricity bills, while some large-scale businesses too may see a spike in their electricity bills of between 25% to 30%, depending on the category of power tariff which they are in.
He thus hoped the government could quickly address such a pressing issue before it triggers a far-reaching adverse chain effect, including further boosting the ongoing inflation, and inevitably derailing our economic recovery.
However, he welcomed and supported the government’s recent assurance that the power tariff for domestic consumers will remain the same, for now.-pr/BNN
