28 November 2018

Domestic and commercial users of solar power will enjoy cheaper electricity bills from Jan 1 under two revamped policies as the government seeks to make renewable energy (RE) a mainstay in the country’s power grid.

Energy, Technology, Science, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin (picture) said the monthly electric bills reduction will be dependent on the size of the area to be fitted with the solar panel.

Yeo said the rebates is part of the “solar leasing” concept which offers better profits for solar power producers.

“Under solar leasing, there will be zero upfront cost where individuals do not not need to come out with any initial cost to install the solar panels” , said Yeo.

Yeo also said members of the public who generate solar energy for personal use will get rebates from TNB at the same consumption tariff under the revised net energy metering (NEM) programme.

This is to ensure the NEM programme is feasible in terms of ringgit and sen to electricity consumers.

“From Jan 1, 2019, there will be no more differences in the selling and purchasing prices of electricity.

“TNB’s bill calculation will be based on one-on-one where the bill is similar to the clean consumption rate, which is the consumption minus generation times with tariff.”