Media Statement by Johor DAP Policy Director and Senai State Assemblyperson Wong Shu Qi on 9th January 2015 (Friday) in a Press Conference at Batu Pahat:
Prime Minister Najib must ensure that electricity tariff is reduced as soon as possible
There is no excuse for the government to not adjust the electricity tariff seeing as the fuel price has been coming down significantly for the past six months. Prime Minister Najib must ensure that the electricity tariff is reduced as soon as possible.
This is not only the minister’s responsibility but also the cabinet’s, under the leadership of Najib. Seeing that the price is regulated by Energy Commission, it will of course require the Cabinet’s approval. While TNB is passing the buck to the Federal Government for not reducing the electricity tariff, Najib should take the responsibility.
Otherwise, as the Prime Minister of the federal government, he must instruct the Energy Commission to explain to the public why can’t the electricity tariffs be reduced. Valid reasons must be given, instead of pure nonsense since each and every Malaysian know that crude oil price has gone down significantly.
When the federal government approved the electricity tariff hike in December 2013, we the DAP disagreed with the hike and the Electricity Commission was forced to explain to the public about the new Imbalanced Cost Pass Through (ICPT) and subsidy rationalization mechanism, to justify the hikes.
Therefore, the Energy Commission must at least inform the public if we are still adopting the ICPT formula in determining electricity tariff. If the answer is yes, they then have to explain how the current tariff is set.
Otherwise, the Energy Commission would have to tell us that the formula is no longer in use, so as to avoid reducing the tariff.
TNB, ini which Khazanah Nasional Berhad holds about 30% stake, is making a more than healthy profit of RM 6.4 billion for financial year ended August 2014. The cash generated from operating activities itself is RM 10.334 billion for FY2014, with a profit margin of about 15％.
As a natural monopoly business entity, the business risk is low, since Malaysians will continue to consume electricity from TNB. Therefore, TNB would continue to enjoy endless profit while Malaysians continue to pay at a tariff that is grossly unfair.
Wong Shu Qi