PETALING JAYA, Selangor, Malaysia, Dec 30 (Bernama) — The Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) strongly disagrees with the recently announced 14% increase in the base electricity tariff by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). This policy, poses significant challenges to the plastics industry, which is already grappling with mounting operational costs and economic uncertainties.
The proposed base tariff hike attributed to TNB’s projected CAPEX is unwarranted. The anticipated increase in electricity demand, especially from data centers and other high-consumption sectors, is expected to generate higher revenue streams for TNB. These revenues should be sufficient to offset the rising CAPEX without imposing additional financial burdens on businesses and households. Furthermore, the argument for base tariff adjustments due to expected coal and gas price fluctuations is equally concerning. The Imbalance Cost Past-Through (ICPT) mechanism was introduced to manage such cost variances. It is imperative that TNB utilizes the ICPT mechanism to cover these fluctuations rather than passing them onto businesses through higher base tariffs.