Sabah’s electricity tariff rate is outdated, says Madius Tangau

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s current electricity tariff rate of 34sen per unit is outdated, says Datuk Seri Madius Tangau.

The Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) chairman said although this did not mean that an increase in tariff rate was in the pipeline, there was a review schedule that showed what the current rate should be.

He said a deal and tariff price schedule were mentioned when SESB (then known as Sabah Electricity Board) in 1998 was privatised.

“At that time, the tariff rate was just 24 or 25sen per unit, and now after 20 plus years, it’s only 34sen,” Tangau said at a groundbreaking ceremony of a new Main Distribution Substation in Manggatal near here, Saturday (Oct 14).

He said by right, according to the schedule of tariff revision, the charge should be at 47sen per unit by now.

Asked if this meant that there would be an increase in tariff rate, he said “no”.

“But we understand the plight of the people, and we are still maintaining 34sen to this day. So we need to discuss all these when we move towards fully taking over the SESB in phases starting next year onwards,” Tangau said.

He said ultimately, the government would be the one to decide whether or not to update the tariff rate and other matters, not the SESB.

He explained that at this moment, though owned by the government, SESB’s operations are privatised. That means the utility company does not receive any funding to run its operations in generating or sourcing new power sources.

Tangau said the government subsidy helps cover the costs.

“So these are the money we use to operate SESB,” he said.

He said when the time comes for the government to pull out all subsidies for SESB, as mentioned in the just-announced Budget 2024, Sabah must already be able to manage SESB on its own properly.

Tangau said SESB must also be able to generate enough power and sufficient surplus supply or reserve margin to fulfil demands and unforeseen circumstances by then.

He said SESB must find ways to stand independently as a self-sufficiently operating utility company without depending on subsidy by 2030.