KOTA KINABALU, Jan 19 — The transfer of regulatory authority over electricity supply from the Federal government to Sabah is anticipated to bolster Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd’s (SESB) generation market position.
According to SESB chairman Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau, the company currently holds a 20 per cent share in the generation market, with the remaining 80 per cent generated by independent power generators (IPPs).
He said this transition aims to reduce Sabah’s reliance on IPPs for electricity supply.
To fulfil that aspiration, the regulatory authority has created room to shift the predominant use of natural gas for electricity generation instead of other previous priorities, he added.
“We want to increase our generation market share so that SESB is healthier as an electricity utility company and we hope that this regulation will facilitate the process towards that (prioritising natural gas to generate electricity) because we need fuel to generate electricity.
“We want to prioritise the utilisation of natural gas for electricity generation. Previously, the priority was given to producing liquefied natural gas (LNG). Now, we aim to prioritise electricity generation first,” he told Bernama.
He was speaking after the symbolic handing over of Sabah’s electricity supply regulatory powers from Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, representing the Federal government, to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, here today.
Madius highlighted that purchasing natural gas for electricity generation at the current market rates is costly, and passing it on to consumers would result in higher electricity tariffs that would burden them.
“We hope the price is controlled by the state government and Petronas so that all parties, including SESB, can generate electricity and electricity tariffs do not burden consumers. So with this regulatory authority, we can discuss everything among us,” he said.
On January 3, a special session of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (DUN) passed three bills related to the takeover of energy regulatory powers and electricity supply by the state government from the federal government.
They were the Sabah Energy Commission (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Sabah Renewable Energy Bill 2024, and the Electricity Supply Bill 2024.
On January 10, 2023, the Sabah state assembly passed the Sabah Energy Commission Bill 2023 and the Gas Supply Bill 2023 for the taking over of regulatory power of gas supply. — Bernama
