KUALA LUMPUR: The government will be spending RM6.51 billion in electricity tariff subsidies this year to ensure that there is no increase in electricity tariffs to help the people deal with inflation.

Energy and Natural Resources Deputy Minister Datuk Ali Biju said this followed an announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on June 24 who said that the government will maintain a rebate of two sen per kilowatt hour (kWh) for all domestic consumers and a surcharge of RM3.70 sen/kWh to all non-domestic consumer in the peninsula from July 1 until Dec 31, 2022.

"This means that all users in the peninsula will pay electricity tariffs at the same level as they have been paying since January 2022," he said this during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Negara today.

He was replying to a question from Senator Khairil Nizam Khirudin who wanted to know the amount of subsidy that has been and will be allocated by the government through the Energy Commission to ensure that there is no increase in electricity tariffs to help the public cope with inflationary pressures.

Ali said that from January 2021 until last June, the government had allocated RM715 million to maintain a rebate of two sen/kWh to all domestic consumers even though a surcharge of RM3.70 sen/kWh should be imposed on all electricity consumers in the peninsula starting Jan 2022.

Meanwhile, he also said any subsequent electricity tariff decisions will be based on the Imbalance Cost Past Through (ICPT) mechanism at the end of this year which depended on the price of fuel supply at the global level.

He said the ministry through the Energy Commission and the Ministry of Finance will study the possibility of providing targeted energy subsidies.

-- BERNAMA