Siti Safinah said Malaysia remains partially exposed to global energy price fluctuations despite having a relatively stable domestic supply mix.
“Although our country is in a stable position in terms of energy supply, especially electricity supply and piped gas, we are not completely unaffected by the impact of the current crisis,” she said in a press conference at the commission’s headquarters here today.
She said Malaysia still imports some natural gas and depends entirely on imported coal for electricity generation.
She added that rising costs come not only from fuel prices but also from logistics and insurance linked to global supply disruptions.
“Therefore, the public needs to be prepared for higher costs. Although the increase may not be very high or as severe as in some other countries, there will still be an increase in costs,” she said.
She said any increase in fuel costs would eventually be reflected in the automatic fuel adjustment (AFA) mechanism once those costs filter through the system.
“There is still a lag effect because of how the supply chain works, but we do anticipate that the adjustment will start to come through in the near term,” she added.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd yesterday announced that rebates from its AFA system would be reduced from RM0.0215 per kWh to RM0.0047 per kWh for homes in West Malaysia starting in April.
This means households using more than 600kWh per month, with bills exceeding RM215.98, can expect to pay more for electricity this month.
Siti Safinah said the hotter weather expected in the coming months could push up electricity demand, particularly from households using air-conditioning, which might place further pressure on bills.
On comparisons with Singapore, which announced tariff hikes yesterday, she said Malaysia’s exposure differed due to its more diversified energy mix.
“Our supply mix is different from Singapore. They depend on imported natural gas, so they will see the impact more quickly. We are not fully insulated, but our exposure is different,” she said.
She added that Malaysia currently has sufficient energy supply capacity, with additional capacity expected to increase by less than 100MW this year while demand grows gradually.