Kuala lumpur: The Energy Commission (ST) has assured that about 85 per cent of domestic households will experience little impact on their electricity bills following the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Incentive, amid the current global energy crisis.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Chief Executive Officer Siti Safinah Salleh stated that the incentive for residential consumers will remain on a reducing scale for consumption of up to 1,000 kWh and remain neutral for consumption of up to 600 kWh. "That means that 85 per cent of domestic or household consumers will remain at a pretty much stable or neutral level in terms of their electricity bill impact." The incentive also applies to low voltage non-domestic consumers for consumption of up to 200 kWh, and these measures are expected to help mitigate some of the anticipated inflationary impacts from the ongoing crisis, she said at the ST Annual Regulatory Review (STARR) 2026.

Also present at the event was Bernama Deputy Editor-in-Chief (Economic News Services) Harlina Samson. Siti Safinah noted that Malaysia is not entirely shielded from the global energy crisis since about 80 per cent of the natural gas used for power generation in the country is sourced domestically. "That means it is pretty much not coming from the Middle East. It is insulated from the energy markets, global energy markets. However, there is still an impact because it is still tied to the MRP or Market Reference Price, so there will still be an impact on that price, but that is the ceiling. So the ceiling is lower than what would be the exposure based on the global market prices," she explained.

Meanwhile, Siti Safinah mentioned that the EC anticipates steady growth in energy demand, alongside expanded energy efficiency and conservation measures in 2026. "Electricity demand is primarily driven still by the warmer weathers that we anticipate in Malaysia and the commercial sector growth, including new data centres coming into operation, while gas demand will be underpinned by power generation, with moderate increases in industrial consumption."

She further highlighted the increasingly challenging energy supply landscape, where renewable energy generation continues to grow despite low rainfalls suppressing hydropower capacities. Siti Safinah urged consumers to use energy efficiently amid the current global energy crisis. "Everyone really needs to start looking into energy efficiency initiatives and measures, and also conserving energy. The other thing that we are mindful of, and this is also external factors, is that we are heading into our even hotter climate. For Malaysia, that means this is when the demand starts to rise and typically that will happen, we anticipate that in May because of the hotter climate, and especially in households, cooling, air conditioning will be turned on even more," she said.