KOTA KINABALU: Federation of Sabah Industries (FSI) expects better service from Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) following the rise of electricity tariff starting January.
Its president Datuk Seri Panglima Wong Khen Thau said the high electricity tariff and power disruption were a double whammy not only to the manufacturing sector, but also to households.
“If you want to increase (the electricity tariff), you must ensure the service is good,” he said when commenting on the statewide power failure in Sabah yesterday.
Wong said factories that depended heavily on electricity in their operations would have generators in place, but small and medium industries (SMIs) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) might not be able to afford a generator as the machine did not come cheap.
“A standard sized generator costs hundreds of thousands.”
He said the blackout would have a major impact on heavy electricity usage industries, such as cement producers, as well as the food industry.
“The estimated loss for eight hours of power disruption can go by millions,” he pointed out.
On whether FSI members would seek compensation from SESB, Wong said it was too early to say for now.
“We need to know what caused the blackout, if it was due to negligence,” he said, adding that some FSI members had sought compensation from SESB in the past.
On a related matter, Wong said the government should defer the increase in electricity tariff by five to 10 years.
In fact, FSI just held a meeting on Thursday and it was decided that the federation would send a petition to the government to request a deferment on the electricity tariff hike.
He said the electricity tariff in Sabah was revised in 2011 but within three years, the tariff was increased by another 16.9 per cent, plus 1.6 per cent of renewable energy fund for the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT).
“In three years, the electricity tariff has increased over 30 per cent. Few countries do that (increase electricity rate) in a short period of time.”
Wong said Sarawak had not increased its electricity rate at all, whilst the hike in Peninsular Malaysia was not as high as Sabah.
“As an oil and gas producing state, we should get some benefits from the government’s side.
“We feel that infrastructures and basic facilities like electricity supply should not be a burden to taxpayers; it should be subsidized by the government,” he said.
Wong said the government could implement the increase of electricity tariff in stages, by a few per cent each year.
As for the renewable energy fund for the FiT, Wong pointed out that it was not that the industries here did not want to adopt green technology, but they had not reached that level yet.
He continued to say that SESB should re-look and review their operations from a cost-cutting perspective, in particular the reason of their high cost of operations.
Wong claimed that independent power producers (IPPs) were charging a high rate, which contributed to a high cost of operation for SESB.
“It is not fair to pass it down to the rakyat or consumers.
“If the IPPs were not efficient, they should be cut off and let other people handle,” he added.
FSI, previously known as the Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM), has over 200 members in Sabah.