The government this week approved Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s tariff hike under Regulatory Period 4 (RP4) from January 2025 to December 2027. The new tariff schedule with a base tariff of 45.62 sen per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for Peninsular Malaysia has been proposed. Under Regulatory Period 3 (RP3) between 2022 and 2024, the base tariff was set at 39.95 sen/kWh.
Following the announcement, energy efficiency has become a mitigating measure to potentially reign in the inflationary pressure produced by the electricity rate increase.
Though the actual tariff hike has been deferred to a later period starting from July 1, 2025, it’s never too early to start saving electricity, by following tips straight from the energy efficiency experts of Tenaga and the Energy Commission.
Residential consumers should follow the following day-to-day tips to save electric power:
- Maximise the use of natural light to save energy. Draw your curtains and blinds to let in as much natural light as possible to help save on lighting costs.
- Use energy-saving bulbs. These special lightbulbs including LED bulbs consume less energy and last longer.
- Use 5-star energy efficiency household appliances and equipment. These are designed to run more efficiently to reduce energy consumption.
- Organise your fridge to make room for air circulation. An uncluttered fridge allows cool air to flow through more efficiently and consumes less electric power.
- Turn off lights, fans and air conditioning units before leaving your house. Ensure all electrical switches are turned off before leaving for work or vacation especially on the weekends.
- Do not overload the electrical socket to avoid short circuit.
- Power down your computer. When not in use, turn off the CPU, monitor and printer.
- Iron all your clothes in one go. This will help you to save energy and money.
- Dim your light for a good night’s sleep. Dimmer switches help the brain to wind down for better rest.
- Use the appropriate pump for your pond or aquarium. Choose the right pump to fit the size of your pond or aquarium, and save big on energy.
- Sun-dry your clothes if possible. Your clothes will stay fresh and sterilised to a certain degree as you skip the dryer to save electricity.
- Shut the doors and windows when using your air conditioner. The room will cool faster while consuming less electricity.
- Clean the air filter of your air conditioner frequently. Save more by cleaning the air filter to allow more cool air to flow out efficiently.
- Set your air conditioner temperature at 24°C. Setting the temperature between 24-26°C provides sufficient cooling, while keeping your energy consumption down.
- Set a timer for your air conditioner to save energy. Try setting the timer to switch off the air conditioner a few hours after you’ve fallen asleep.
At work, energy efficiency experts have even more heavy-weight tips that can help to conserve the environment as we go about business as usual:
1. Improve the power factor of office machinery. Equipment with low power factor requires more electricity to perform its tasks. Therefore, increase the power factor of office equipment so that less electricity is consumed for the same result. This will also reduce the monthly electricity bill. On top of that, the company will be exempted from paying 1.5% to 3% Power Factor Surcharge, which Tenaga imposes should the power factor of a business drop below 0.85. In general, old appliances do not work at maximum efficiency and will use more energy that adds to the electricity bill. Replace it with high efficiency appliances that operate at lower costs.
2. Maintain and clean regularly. Clean office equipment and electrical appliances and/or service them regularly to ensure that they’re not dirty and dusty so they run at maximum efficiency. This includes appliances that have fans, motors and other moving parts. For example, if the seal of a refrigerator door is damaged, it will allow the cold air to escape, and this will add to the monthly electricity bill.
3. Choose the right tariff for the business. During peak hours (8AM – 10PM), Tenaga generates a higher amount of electricity to meet the demands of usual working days. During off-peak hours when most people are asleep, Tenaga generates less electricity, but this supply is not used to its fullest. By rescheduling factory operations to run heavy equipment during off-peak hours, a plant can reduce the amount of electricity consumed.
4. Turn it off when not in use. When the business is closed for the day, turn off office computers or workstations to hibernate mode. Turn off printers, monitors and any other office equipment when not in use, especially overnight and on the weekends. Turn off all the office and building lights at the end of the day.
5. Install automatic room-lighting controls. The sensor will turn lights on or off depending on occupancy or time of day. Additionally, motion sensor that switches on lights in bathrooms, storage rooms and other little-used areas can also be installed to save energy. Clean reflective surface regularly to maximise light output, and remove lamps where there is more lighting than really needed. Whenever possible, install skylights or skywindows for natural lighting.
6. Use air conditioners efficiently. Air conditioning units consume a lot of electricity. At times, raising the temperature by 1°C could increase the electricity bill without anyone even noticing the difference. With sensible work attire, a cool 24-26°C should be enough to keep everyone comfortable in the office while providing significant savings in electricity.
7. Get the energy audit done. An energy audit is an inspection, assessment and analysis of electrical energy usage in the work premise. The results from energy audit will enable the business to find the baseline value for the premise and identify the right energy saving measures. Train an energy manager or hire an audit company to do the energy audit.
