KWIE, Finance Ministry, TNB bear cost of electricity bill discounts

The electricity bill discounts announced in the Extra Economic Stimulus Package 2020 (PRE2020), Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package and Bantuan Prihatin Elektrik are subsidised using funds from the Electricity Industry Fund (KWIE), Finance Ministry and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).

According to the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, the overall cost of discounts granted is RM2.62 billion.

During the Movement Control Order (MCO) and Conditional MCO period, electricity consumption by the commercial and industrial sectors saw a decline, it said in a written reply to Nor Azrina Surip (PH-Merbok) during the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.

"On average, the commercial sector recorded a 31 per cent drop while the industrial sector saw a fall of 47 per cent.

"Domestic (residential) consumers, however, increased their consumption by 23 per cent on average compared to before the MCO. After the MCO was implemented, they stayed at home longer and used electrical appliances more than usual," the ministry said.

With the majority of industrial and commercial sectors being closed during the MCO, electricity usage was affected. It said TNB's electricity sales eased to RM3.4 billion on average for the April-June period compared with RM3.8 billion prior to the MCO.

-- BERNAMA