PUTRAJAYA, Dec 8 — Amid rising coal prices, the government announced today it will maintain the current electricity tariffs for peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and the Federal Territory of Labuan, at least for the first half of 2016.

However, consumers in the peninsula will see a cut in their rebates, from the current 2.25 sen/kWh to 1.52 sen/kWh.

“Despite the increased coal prices following the ringgit slump in Peninsula Malaysia … the government is still able to maintain the average electric tariff rate at 38.53 sen/kWh,” Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili told a press conference here.

He added that the decision to maintain the tariffs from January 1 to June 30 were based on the cheaper global price of crude oil, which allows the government to maintain the current power rate at 1.20 sen/ kWh.

He said consumers in the peninsula who use less than 300 kWh monthly won’t receive any rebate as they were unaffected by any rise in the tariff rates introduced on January 1, 2014.

Consumers in Sabah and Labuan are unaffected because the two places in Borneo do not use the Imbalance Cost Pass-Through mechanism, the minister explained.

The tariff for both Sabah and Labuan is at 33.32 sen/kWh.