MADANI REFORMS DELIVER AFFORDABLE ENERGY, WATER – FADILLAH

By Samantha Tan Chiew Tieng

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- The public’s continued access to affordable electricity, water and sewerage services is among the key achievements of the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry (PETRA) following the implementation of various structural and policy reforms under the Malaysia MADANI administration, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

Fadillah, who is also Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister, said the ministry plays a vital role as the lead agency in the governance of the energy and water sectors to ensure they continue to grow sustainably for the well-being of the people and to safeguard national development.

“In nearly two years of leading PETRA, I feel we have implemented the best and achieved excellent results. If you ask what they are, there are many to mention, but what is clear is that the people continue to enjoy electricity, water and sewerage supply at affordable rates. Low-income groups are also supported by the government through subsidies such as the RM40 Electricity Bill Rebate,” he said.

He said this in a written reply to Bernama in conjunction with the Rancakkan MADANI Bersama Malaysiaku Programme and the Public Service Reform National Convention 2025, which will be held from Dec 5 to 7 at Dataran Putrajaya.

Fadillah said PETRA’s success stems from attentiveness to the views and needs of various stakeholders in the energy and water sectors, in addition to enhanced monitoring visits to ensure projects are implemented in line with set targets.

“For more objective and effective progress, the PETRA Strategic Plan (2026–2030) has been developed, based on key national policy frameworks such as Malaysia MADANI, the MADANI Economic Framework, the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) and the Sustainable Development Agenda,” he said.

He said PETRA’s direction is also supported by existing policies such as the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (2016–2025), the Water Transformation Roadmap (AIR 2040) and the National Sewerage Action Plan 2024–2035.

Fadillah said that over three years of implementing the MADANI agenda, PETRA has recorded major achievements in the energy and water sectors across energy transition, tariffs, energy efficiency and policy reforms. Among the key successes is the Large-Scale Solar Programme (LSS PETRA 5 and 5+), which has generated 3.9 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy with RM12 billion in investments, in line with the NETR target of 70 per cent renewable energy by 2050.

Other achievements include the Net Energy Metering (NEM) 3.0 programme, which concludes this year and has supplied 2,500 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity to consumers, while the Solar ATAP Scheme enables consumers to generate their own electricity and receive energy credits for surplus electricity channelled to the national grid.

PETRA, together with the Energy Commission (ST), has also carried out an open tender for the Battery Energy Storage Technology (MyBEST) project to ensure grid stability in tandem with rising renewable energy uptake, as well as introduced a new electricity tariff structure based on the “user pay” principle effective July 1.

The new tariff structure minimises impact on 85 per cent of domestic users and offers energy-efficiency incentives to domestic consumers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“Additionally, the Automatic Fuel Adjustment (AFA) mechanism has been introduced to replace the Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT), whereby fuel cost adjustments are made monthly instead of every six months,” he said.

In the water sector, Fadillah said major MADANI achievements include amendments to the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (Act 655) after more than 18 years, and the National Water Services Commission Act 2006 (Act 654), aimed at strengthening regulation, increasing penalties for pollution and enhancing the efficiency of the National Water Services Commission (SPAN).

“These amendments complement each other in building a comprehensive legal ecosystem, from strengthening regulatory powers to enforcing stricter penalties. This continuity enables a more efficient, integrity-driven water supply service delivery that prioritises public interest,” he said.

He said PETRA has also introduced the Water Sector Transformation Plan 2040 (AIR2040) to position Malaysia as a regional and global water hub by 2040, while implementing new water tariff adjustments effective Aug 1, including special tariffs for data centres.

The Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Programme has been expanded with RM2.53 billion in funding for 2025–2030 to reduce NRW from 34.3 per cent in 2024 to 28.8 per cent by 2030 to ensure efficient water management.

PETRA has also strengthened the resilience of energy and water infrastructure against extreme weather through the use of Flood Analysis and Risk Assessment (FARA) technology and upgrades to the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Programme (PRABN).

The Irrigation and Drainage Department (JPS) has accelerated flood mitigation projects using designs based on future rainfall projections and has upgraded PRABN, which is now capable of forecasting floods up to seven days in advance.

He said the government also encourages the use of reclaimed water in the fast-growing data centre sector, with Johor pioneering such initiatives through a project involving Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) and Johor Special Water (JSW) to process treated effluent for data centre cooling systems such as Bridge Data Centres (BDC) and Computility Technology.

He added that major investments by Amazon Web Services (AWS) also support this approach in line with the company’s global commitment to becoming “Water Positive” by 2030, with AWS data centres in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan also using reclaimed water as an alternative cooling source.

-- BERNAMA