KUALA LUMPUR: The government has raised the domestic consumption threshold that qualifies for protection from 600 to 800 kilowatt hours a month, a day after a special meeting was convened over the jump in household bills.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the move in a Facebook post on Thursday. Users within the new threshold are exempt from the Automatic Fuel Cost Adjustment, or AFA, from retail charges and from the sales and service tax.
The exemption covers usage from September through December 31 this year.
"This step is being taken as an immediate measure to ease the pressure on people's cost of living right now," Anwar said.
Haze and hotter weather in recent weeks had pushed some households to use more electricity, he said, carrying their monthly consumption past the 600 kilowatt hour mark and sending their bills sharply higher.
He also thanked Tenaga Nasional Berhad, the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation and the Energy Commission for allowing the measure to be put in place quickly.
The announcement followed Thursday's special meeting involving the ministry, the Energy Commission, TNB and the Finance Ministry.
The AFA took effect on July 1, 2025, replacing the Imbalance Cost Pass-Through system. TNB describes it as a two-way mechanism that balances movements in fuel costs and foreign exchange rates on global markets.
By the company's account, consumers have received RM3.1 billion in rebates since the AFA began, against RM0.8 billion in surcharges. The rebates ran for nine months from August 2025 to April this year, before surcharges began in May as generation fuel costs rose on the back of a regional crisis.
The government has also channelled RM435 million through the Electricity Industry Fund to blunt the effect of the AFA on consumers.
Before this change, about 80 per cent of domestic users were below the 600 kilowatt hour mark and already covered. TNB said that group saves between two and 14 per cent compared with the old tariff structure.
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