“A gradual increase of the electricity tariff every six months by 5% each time would be better,” he said in a Facebook post today.

On Feb 1, a surcharge of 3.7 sen/kWj was imposed on all non-domestic users, such as commercial and industrial companies.

Najib said that depending on the different usage of commercial and industrial businesses, electricity costs could increase by as much as 15% with the new surcharge.

He warned that the sudden high increase would result in operating costs going up and eventually cause a hike in prices of goods and services to the public.

He said a gradual increase over time would provide the biggest returns for the government, savings for the public and reduce the risk of inflation.

The Energy Commission had previously said electricity costs had increased by 45% because of higher prices for coal used to produce power.

Earlier today, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng questioned why consumers, especially businesses, should churn out more to increase the profits of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).

He said that before the increase, TNB had recorded a 9.6% and 4.6% increase in revenue and earnings respectively, for the nine months ending on Sept 30, 2021.