The government has expanded electricity bill subsidy protection for domestic users from 600 kilowatt-hours (kWh) to 800kWh a month, following higher household electricity usage amid recent hotter weather and haze conditions.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the enhanced protection will apply to electricity consumption from September until Dec 31, 2026.
Under the measure, domestic consumers using up to 800kWh a month will be exempted from the Automatic Fuel Adjustment (AFA), retail charge and Sales and Service Tax (SST).
The decision follows a special meeting involving the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA), the Energy Commission, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and the Finance Ministry to consider measures to mitigate the impact of higher electricity bills on households.
Anwar said the measure was an immediate response to cost-of-living pressures, noting that haze conditions and hotter weather had pushed some households’ monthly electricity consumption beyond the previous 600kWh protection threshold.
Prior to the latest change, domestic users consuming 600kWh or less were fully exempted from AFA, the 8% service tax and the retail charge. TNB said the AFA surcharge for September 2026 was set at 3.67 sen per kWh, after higher generation costs led to surcharges being imposed from May.
The AFA mechanism, introduced in July 2025 to replace the previous Imbalance Cost Pass-Through system, adjusts electricity charges based on movements in fuel costs and foreign exchange rates. TNB said consumers had received RM3.1 billion in AFA rebates since its introduction, compared with RM800 million in surcharges over the same period.
Anwar said the government would continue monitoring fuel costs and energy-market conditions when considering future electricity tariff decisions, taking into account household affordability, security of electricity supply and the sustainability of the energy sector.
He also credited TNB, PETRA and the Energy Commission for enabling the expanded protection to be implemented promptly.
