Federal govt spent RM26.4 bln to improve Sabah's electricity supply - Minister

The Federal Government spent RM26.4 billion between 2001 and 2018, in the form of grants, loans and subsidies to improve the quality of electricity supply services in Sabah.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said the government's efforts and initiatives have paid off, judging by the significant decrease in power supply disruptions from 4,109 minutes in 2005 to 205 minutes in 2019 as measured by the system average interruption duration index (SAIDI).

"Although the SAIDI rate has shown a significant decrease, the government is aware that it is still higher when compared with the SAIDI rate in Peninsular Malaysia. As such, the federal government remains committed in its efforts to provide electricity supply to consumers in Sabah.

"For this purpose, the ministry has implemented various measures to help improve the quality of electricity supply and services in Sabah by ensuring adequate electricity generation, strengthening the transmission and distribution system as well as ensuring the sustainability of Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) as a utility company in Sabah," he said in a statement here today.

He said the efforts to improve affordability and quality of electricity supply in Sabah included providing grants amounting to RM2.3 billion and loans amounting to RM1.14 billion under the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) for electricity generation, transmission and distribution projects carried out by the Sabah Electricity Supply Special Project Team and SESB.

"The implementation of these projects will continue under the 12MP. To ensure the sustainability of SESB's operations, the federal government had provided a sizeable subsidy of RM3.7 billion for the period 2012 to 2019, including fuel subsidy, solar subsidy and tariff support subsidy.

"This subsidy is provided by the federal government to cover the cost of electricity supply in Sabah which is much higher than the tariff rate imposed on consumers," he said.

-- BERNAMA