It’s not cool to waste electricity

Time to Change way we use appliances

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PETALING JAYA: Cooling homes and offices is big business due to Malaysia’s year-round hot and humid equatorial climate.

But changing a few simple habits can save consumers’ money and will be better for the environment, says Malaysian eco-activist Gurmit Singh.

“Research has shown in typical urban households in Malaysia, the highest electricity consumption goes to the air conditioner, followed by the fridge and water heater.

“If we tackle these three pieces of electrical appliances, we will be able to save a fair bit of electricity usage,” he said.

The chairman and founding executive director of Centre for Environment, Technology and Development Malaysia (Cetdem) said many do not realise the temperature need not be set too cold.

“The same goes for offices. It is a waste of electricity by setting the temperature so low.

“Some hotels and offices are so cold that people have to dress as if they are in winter.

“Every degree we raise we are saving 10% of electricity consumption. If we raise five degrees, then we save at least 50% of the consumption.

“I think there is a lot of potential to reduce electricity consumption by increasing the thermostat or temperature setting of our air conditioner,” he said, adding that another simple rule of thumb is to switch off any electric appliances when not in use.

Gurmit, however, noted that in general, Malaysians care very little when it comes to saving energy.

“The problem with Malaysians is that we are so used to cheap electricity that many just couldn’t care less about electricity.

“Many tend to think they have enough money that they can afford to use as much electricity as they want.

“Such mindset has been like that for many years. They only hurt when their electricity bills surged suddenly,” he added.

Gurmit was referring to the case of consumers complaining of an unusual increase in their utility bills, which Tenaga Nasional acknowledged was a technical glitch in the system. (see related post below)

Pointing out that Malaysia’s electricity consumption is rather high, Gurmit noted the fact that the generation of electricity also contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases must not be omitted.

“Our per capita greenhouse gas emission is one of the highest in our region – we are probably only second to Singapore and similar to some European countries.

“It clearly shows that we use a lot of energy unnecessarily, not only in the electricity sector,” he said, adding that Malaysians must move away from that practice.

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KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has admitted that a recent technical glitch is among the reasons for the sudden surge in utility bills.

TNB president and chief executive officer Amir Hamzah Azizan, who held a press conference yesterday, was apologetic and promised to investigate and resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Amir said the technical glitch between May 15 and May 20 caused a slight disruption to the system but it had since been resolved.

“Between May 15 and May 20, the system has been operationalised in stages so we can ensure we can (provide) service to the customers as fast as we can.

“By May 20, everything was back in operation. Some customers may have been billed for extra days (causing a hike in the bill),” he told the media.

Amir urged consumers to lodge a report if they noticed any discre­pancies in their bills.

He vowed that TNB would investigate and address their complaints.

Amir said in April alone, the utility company received 5,621 complaints but this almost doubled to 9,028 in May.

“This brings the total number of complaints to 14,469 reports and from this, 11,331 have been re­solved.

“We would also like to repeat our stand that TNB will keep its promise to investigate the reports.

“If there is evidence that we did overcharge, we will credit the amount back to our customers’ accounts,” Amir said.

He said a special task force, led by TNB’s chief retail officer Megat Jalaluddin Megat Hassan, had been formed to oversee the complaints and resolve the issue.

Megat Jalaluddin said that it usual­ly took about two weeks to credit the amount back to consumers but it could be delayed due to the large number of complaints received.

Amir said other reasons for the sudden surge in electricity bills include old and faulty TNB meters, replacement of new meters and increased usage in the consumer’s household.

He also assured consumers of uninterrupted electricity supply, especially during Hari Raya.

“To those who have lodged reports or ongoing investigations, we assure that the disconnection notice will be postponed for two weeks.

“We would like everyone to have a peaceful Hari Raya celebration,” he said.

Amir said the operation hours of TNB offices would be extended from 8am to 6pm from Monday to Saturday, except for public holidays.

As for the TNB Careline, the hours will be extended from 7am to 11pm every day including public holidays, except for Sunday.

This is to help facilitate complaints from consumers and to help resolve their billing issues as soon as possible.

On comments by Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin that TNB would be fined even after it rectifies the billing problem, Amir said at the moment the utility company would focus on fixing the problem.

“My focus is to resolve this issue, we will talk about other issues later. The consumers are our priority,” he said.

During an interview on 8TV’s Global Watch programme on Thursday, Yeo said the Energy Commission had already given TNB a warning letter and an instruction notice to resolve the problem.

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Explain discrepancies in bills, TNB told

KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) should give a concrete explanation for the sudden discre­pancies in electricity bills and take holistic steps instead of just depending on complaints from users, say consumer groups.

Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) education officer N.V. Sub­barao said TNB, as the national utility company, must take responsibility instead of depending on consumers to come forward and lodge reports.

“TNB must do the due diligence. It will be unfair to those especially in the rural areas,” he said.

Federation of Malaysian Consu­mers Associations (Fomca) chief operations officer T. Saravanan said that while TNB wanted users to lodge complaints, the utility company needed to improve its customer service and response time.

He noted that TNB should explain why there was a technical glitch in its system.

“The problem should have been communicated to the public earlier and they should not have waited for the Energy Commission or Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry to intervene,” he said.

He also noted that the Energy Commission should investigate the issue and publish its findings.

“An independent investigation team should be formed so that the findings won’t be biased.

“The Energy Commission should play an important role in protecting consumers,” said Saravanan.

Malaysian Islamic Consumer Association secretary-general Datuk Dr Ma’mor Osman said TNB’s explanation that the sudden increase in electricity bill was due to a technical glitch could not be accepted.

“The public cannot accept this as TNB has all the technology to check silly mistakes.

“TNB makes very high profits and they have monopolised the sector.

“If they do not give a satisfactory explanation, consumers will as­sume that they just want to make more money.

“If they know there is a glitch in the system, they need to inform all consumers.

“There is no point in blaming others for their wrongdoing,” he said.

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Negligence, Technial among TNB faults

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TNB will still be fined, even after remedying high electricity charges

Yeo said the high electricity bills problem was in most cases due to TNB’s technical problem in billing the customers. — Picture by Saw S...

TNB will still be fined, even after remedying high electricity charges

Yeo said the high electricity bills problem was in most cases due to TNB’s technical problem in billing the customers. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng

https://youtu.be/Ap6DWFAg_gc

KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — Energy supplier Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) will still be fined even after it rectifies the billing problem which led to a sudden spike in electricity bills for consumers, minister Yeo Bee Yin has said.

Speaking in an interview during 8TV’s Global Watch programme yesterday, Yeo said the high electricity bills problem was in most cases due to TNB’s technical problem in billing the customers.

“The Energy Commission has already given them (TNB) a warning letter, and instruction notice, they must resolve the problem within 30 days and all who complained must have fair treatment,” the minister of energy, science, technology, environment and climate change said in an excerpt of the interview that was made available on Global Watch’s official Facebook page.

Yeo said TNB had already violated the Energy Commission’s standard for service levels, and that the energy company would still be penalised even if they corrected their wrong.

“Even if you corrected your wrong, you did wrong, you will be fined,” she stressed in the interview conducted in Mandarin.

Yeo said the Energy Commission is currently doing an investigation to determine which provisions of the Electricity Supply Act to fine TNB under.

“Next week or the following week, we will announce the provisions for the fine and teach them a lesson,” she said.

She noted TNB’s status as being the sole company providing electricity here.

“Because TNB is actually the sole company, you want to buy electricity, if you are unhappy, you must still buy from it.

“So I told the Energy Commission, you must grow fangs, you must regulate, so although they will correct the wrong, but there will certainly be a fine,” she added.- Malay Mail

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Unhappy lot: Some of the consumers making a report over their inaccurate electricity bill at the TNB counters. 

MELAKA: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has promised to re-credit the excess amount into the bills if consumers have been overcharged.

In a statement, the company said it viewed seriously the concerns of consumers over the drastic increase in their bills and was committed to resolving the issue.

It said it would ensure every complaint was investigated and follow-up action taken.

“This includes returning the excess amount if indeed they have been overcharged. It will be re-credited into the customers’ bills,” it said, adding that it would continue to cooperate with the Energy Commission.

TNB said a comprehensive effort was being carried out to thoroughly resolve the issue.

“This includes helping customers with high bills to personally address their grouses at the nearest TNB outlet or contact the TNB CareLine at 1-300-88-5454.

“We appreciate all the grouses, complaints and feedback and are focusing on finding ways to resolve these,” it said as it apologised to customers.

Meanwhile, yesterday, more than 300 people lodged complaints over their electricity bills in the first three hours of the TNB counters being opened at its headquarters in Jalan Banda Kaba here.

Some 30 counters were set up to take complaints from consumers, who lined up before the office opened.

On Tuesday, the counters, which were opened for 11 hours, took in 560 complaints.

The counters will remain open until tomorrow.

On Tuesday, Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin said negligence and technical fault as well as billing for electricity usage for over 30 days, instead of the standard 30 days, had caused electricity bills to spike for certain consumers.

She also said the complaints were from nationwide and not just in Melaka, where it is among the pioneer states to adopt TNB’s smart meter project.

In another statement, TNB denied a viral message on social media that its board of directors had received a government directive to increase electricity tariffs by 30%.

It said it did not have among its staff the name of the person who had purportedly written the message.

It said electricity tariffs were decided by the commission.

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Minister: Technical and billing issues also to blame for price spike

PUTRAJAYA: Negligence and technical fault on the part of Tenaga Nasional Bhd were two among three reasons why electricity bills spiked for certain consumers but the government is having none of it.

Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin, who disclosed this, said TNB must be made accountable for what happened or risk facing legal action from consumers.

“They are not just going to get a slap on the wrist but must be accountable for this and resolve the matter with consumers. Fail to do so and they will face legal action,” she told a press conference at her ministry yesterday.

Also present was Energy Commission chairman Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Hasan.

The Commission had met TNB earlier yesterday over the uproar among consumers in Melaka, and other parts of the country who complained of higher than usual power bills.

Besides the two reasons, Yeo said the other given was that consumers were billed for electricity usage for over 30 days when the standard procedure required the utility firm to issue bills for 30 days.

Yeo said the complaints on surge in power charges was from consumers nationwide and not just Melaka households involved in the smart meter pilot project by TNB.

Many consumers had vented their frustration on social media.

In May alone, more than 300 complaints were lodged with the Commission. This was 10 times more than the complaints in the same month last year.

Yeo said the Commission would play its part by investigating the complaints and submit its findings.

Asked whether the affected consumers should settle their dues first, the minister said she would discuss the issue with TNB and believed the problem could be resolved before the payment deadline.

On the smart meter issue, Yeo said the Commission was also investigating to find out what had gone wrong.

Melaka is among the pioneer states to introduce the smart meter and to date, over 300,000 households have already been fitted with it.

Chief Minister Adly Zahari was quoted as saying that he wanted TNB to ensure the system was implemented properly and to resolve several problems, including that the reading shown on myTNB was not the same as that on the meter.

A TNB spokesman said grievances from consumers would be addressed on a case-by-case basis, adding: “Our role is to listen, understand and serve our customers while upholding the law.”

TNB also inviteed consumers in Melaka with grouses to attend its Customers Day at its office in Jalan Banda Kaba which will be held until Friday (8.30am to 4pm daily).

It said each case would be investigated based on the electricity use pattern over the last six months. The firm said it will also, upon investigation, credit any surcharge to the consumer’s account, in the event of overcharging or when excess reading had occurred.

Alternatively, customers can contact the TNB Careline at 1300-88-5454 or visit any TNB office in Alor Gajah, Bandar Jasin, Merlimau and Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) at Jalan Hang Tuah.

Meanwhile, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the Cabinet was the best avenue to discuss the issue of irregular electricity billing and the solution to it.

He believed Yeo would most likely be asked to explain the matter in today’s Cabinet meeting.

“I have received a lot of Whatsapp messages on this matter. The reaction we have received was nationwide,” Saifuddin said after chairing his ministry’s monthly assembly here yesterday.- The Star

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