The way residential users will be charged for electricity in Malaysia is set to undergo a major change, with the energy commission (Suruhanjaya Tenaga, or ST) having announced earlier today that a new electricity tariff structure and rate will come into effect from July 1, 2025 under the fourth regulatory period (RP4).
As part of the revision, the base tariff in Peninsular Malaysia has also been increased from the current 39.95 sen/kWh to 45.4 sen/kWh, which is a fraction lower than the 45.62 sen/kWh that was approved in December 2024, representing a 13.64% increase instead of the +14.2% that would have resulted from the previously approved rate.
The biggest change that domestic users will experience is that your TNB bill will no longer be based on a tiered kWh rate (based on defined bands of blocks), as you can see from the comparison above. The next big change is that the rate is going to be revised on a monthly basis based on the cost of fuel used for electricity generation, which we will explain below.
The new tariff rates and structure will be officially revealed tomorrow at 12 pm on the TNB website, with an electricity bill cost estimator set to go live on the same page on June 23.
UPDATE: Find out the new TNB rates in our latest story.
While your bills will now be presented differently, the big question of course is whether you will be paying more for your electricity consumption. On the face of it, the base increase means that you should, but there are indicators that say otherwise, and there’s a silver lining for the majority of users, again as explained further below.
The change is part of the three-year RP4 that runs from January 2025 to December 2027, replacing the RP3 from 2022-2024. However, from January to end-June 2025, there was no change in the electricity tariff rate and tariff structure, which allowed the public half a year to adjust. The current tariff schedule has been in place since 2014.
The ST said that the tariff revision involves a restructuring of the average base tariff rate and tariff schedule as well as the implementation of an automatic fuel cost adjustment (AFA) mechanism, the latter replacing the the current Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) system.
Under the new AFA, adjustments will be made based on monthly fuel prices and exchange rates, allowing for either a rebate or surcharge to be made on top of the base tariff, depending on actual and benchmarked fuel prices.
This means that the electricity tariff will be adjusted on a monthly basis instead of every six months, with the monthly adjustment to be carried out automatically by no more than three sen peh kWh (up, surcharge or down, rebate) than the prevailing energy cost. Should it be necessary to adjust beyond the three sen ceiling, government approval will be needed.
In terms of structural changes, the new tariff will see users now being divided into domestic and non-domestic categories, based on voltage level usage (low, medium or high), while the electric bill will adopt a more detailed itemised format, reflecting actual costs across four components (energy, capacity, network and retail charges) to improve pricing clarity to users.
Despite all the changes, the commission said that under the new tariff structure, more than 23.6 million domestic electricity users in the peninsular are set to benefit from fairer and more progressive rates. It added that the RP4 base tariff will result in a total cost reduction of 19% compared to that under RP3, primarily from having ICPT being replaced with the AFA.
Of note is the introduction of an energy efficiency incentive (EEI). Domestic users who consume 1,000 kWh or less each month will be eligible for the incentive, with a downward sliding amount (as in the more the usage, the lesser the incentive) and more importantly, will not be impacted by the new tariffs. The domestic bill comparison chart published by TNB comparing current and new tariffs (above) suggests that this will the case, with lower costs for those under the 1,000 kWh segment.
Non-domestic users using under 200 kWh a month will also benefit from the EEI. Additionally, the time of use (TOU) scheme has been revised to have extended off-peak hours from 10 pm to 2 pm on weekdays and all day on weekends in order to encourage consumption during low-demand periods.
Previously, only commercial users had the option to be on TOU billing (where ETOU, or enhanced time of use, was one such system), but it now looks like domestic low-voltage users will be eligible for peak and off-peak rates, with the provision that they have a smart meter. It’s likely that more will be revealed tomorrow when TNB announces details of the new tariff structure and rates.
To preserve social welfare aspects, the government will offer special tariffs for agriculture, water services and rail operators, and also provide a 10% rebate for registered schools, places of worship and welfare homes. It will also continue the monthly RM40 electricity bill rebate programme for hardcore poor households registered under e-Kasih.
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Anwar menang rakyat senang
Refer my name
Madani Prime Minister will be remembered as the Robin Hood PM
Why TNB as a GLC needs to keep increasing rates?
The purpose of TNB is to provide…provide..provide affordable electricity to rakyat.NOT TO MAKE MONEY.
Now most of local councils have increased cukai pintu by 30%,somemore power hikes,more SST taxes,rising medical insurance,why type of Madani govt is this?
if you have more than 2 ev cars in your home. good luck.
If you have 2 EV cats you better have solar already.
U tau solar batteries storage costs berapa x? Not about the nem bodo
the battery in your car itself is already a form of storage.
normally home users who install solar will feed it back into the grid. they don’t add additional batteries.
and finally we can expect ron95 prices to up soon.
lol go read on the new prices these nem users need to pay first before comment. Savings hancur
Harga barang naik tapi gaji tak naik2
Fxxxed up gomen
Padan muka, 2018 dh elok2 best kembali semula ke zaman 1998
Time to buy a electric car!
“Restructuring” = Increase price
Come on lahhhh, u think us people didn’t know?
New and Old arent comparable anymore, different SOP and Cost.
alot of business invoice need structure follow this style, good example. Then Salary/Gaji can restructure too.
Gaji restructure? In this country? Where there has been no significant real wage growth (adjusted for CPI) for non civil servants since the 80/90’s? Great lah. Globalised prices but pathetic local wages. Subsidies are ending…ok…so what’s going to happen to income?
they’re doing this all at once damn. sst, this, and soon the fuel subsidies gone too. gg malaysians. it was nice being able to barely survive. *shake hands emoji*
Previously suck 1liter of blood , now want to suck 2liter of blood
You pussies should stop whining. We have one of the lowest electricity prices in the world for a non-OPEC country. We have been molly coddled by previous administrations indirectly (and directly) buying our votes at the expense of growth, competitiveness by rewarding laziness, and fiscal responsibility.
Time to harden the f**k up.
Madani goverment make people suffer don’t expect GE16 people going to vote for you PMX. You cheating all the malaysian who support last PRU. Hari in jadi PM esok harga turun. Kepala otak semua harga naik macam gila.