Electricity usage can be controlled by using smart meter, MyTNB

KUALA LUMPUR: Consumers can control their electricity usage and avoid wastage with the use of smart meters together with the myTNB application.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project director Ir. Mohamed Ghous Ahmad said a study conducted in Melaka last year found that all the 24 per cent of TNB consumers with smart meters in their homes were able to reduce their electricity bills by monitoring their electricity consumption through myTNB.

"The smart meter serves as a timer that measures the flow of electricity and sends information on its usage to the TNB's data storage centre on a daily basis.

"Information on electricity usage can be accessed by consumers at myTNB to help them plan and control the use of electricity efficiently and thriftily," he said in an interview with Bernama recently.

For the record, the government chose Melaka as the first state for the implementation of the smart meter where more than 360,000 meters had been installed since 2014. Installation of the smart meters is now being carried out in the Klang Valley.

The myTNB application is a free mobile application for managing the electricity accounts of TNB users. It can be downloaded on Google Play, Apple App Store and Huawei AppGallery, while the myTNB portal can be browsed at www.mytnb.com.my.

Until end of last month, over 4.8 million registered user accounts have used the myTNB application.

According to Ghous, TNB consumers without a smart meter at home can also track their electricity usage by using the myTNB application, but on a monthly basis.

So far, he said, more than one million smart meters had been installed and the installation would continue for all the 9.1 million users in Peninsular Malaysia by 2026.

He said it is hoped that the installation of the smart meter will be fully utilised by consumers to ensure a more efficient and prudent electricity usage.

TNB is the implementing agent for the smart meter installation programme to support the government's aspiration to empower consumers and increase digitilisation among the people. It is implemented under the Incentive-Based Regulatory (IBR) mechanism.

-- BERNAMA