Tenaga Nasional (TNB) has announced that the Energy Commission’s (ST) Automatic Fuel Adjustment (AFA) has hit -0.47 sen per kWh in April, up from -2.15 in March 2026. April was previously forecasted to be -1.89, so this is quite an increase.
You may have expected this seeing that Brent crude is now over US$110 (RM443) a barrel, but TNB primarily relies on coal and gas for electricity generation, and the high global fuel prices have not hit EV users hard yet. Looking at the three-month forecast above, the AFA is only projected to go into positive territory in July (+0.08 sen per kWh), bizarrely after a drop in June to -0.91.
To recap, AFA replaces the previous Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) and is automatically calculated as either a surcharge or discount of up to 3 sen/kWh depending on fuel prices – this is revised monthly, with any larger changes (beyond 3 sen) requiring cabinet approval.
Introduced as part of TNB’s Electricity Tariff Restructuring that took effect from July 1, 2025, the AFA is one of five components or ‘charges’ used to calculate your electricity bill:
- Generation charge: 27.03 sen/kWh for total consumption of 1,500 kWh and below per month or 37.03 sen/kWh for total consumption more than 1,500 kWh per month. This covers the actual cost of generating electricity from power plants.
- Capacity charge: 4.55 sen/kWh. This covers the cost of maintaining sufficient electricity supply capacity.
- Network charge: 12.85 sen/kWh. This covers the cost of operating and maintaining the grid and the local network to deliver electricity.
- Retail charge: RM10/month; waived for total consumption of 600 kWh and below a month. This is a fixed cost for metering, billing and customer service.
- AFA rate: -0.47 sen/kWh for the month of April 2026; waived for total consumption of 600 kWh and below a month.
You can use our TNB Bill Calculator tool to get a rough estimate on how much your electricity bill will be for the month. Essentially, if you use over 1,500 kWh a month, you add the generation, capacity and network charges (totalling 54.43 sen/kWh) to retail charge (RM10) and the AFA rate (-0.47 sen/kWh for April 2026; negative number, so it’s a discount).
Alternatively, if your usage is below 1,500 kWh a month, it’s 44.43 sen/kWh plus the retail charge and AFA rate. For total consumption of 600 kWh and below a month, it would only be 44.43 sen/kWh – retail and AFA charges are waived.
Here’s a list of the monthly AFA rates so far:
- July 2025: 0.00 sen/kWh
- August 2025: -1.45 sen/kWh
- September 2025: -1.10 sen/kWh
- October 2025: -6.50 sen/kWh
- November 2025: -8.91 sen/kWh
- December 2025: -6.42 sen/kWh
- January 2026: -4.99 sen/kWh
- February 2026: -2.77 sen/kWh
- March 2026: -2.15 sen/kWh
- April 2026: -0.47 sen/kWh
Domestic consumers who use less than 1,000 kWh a month can enjoy a discount called ‘Insentif Cekap Tenaga’ or ‘Energy Efficiency Incentive’. The discount provided is relative to consumption (higher usage, lower incentive), with the maximum discount being 25 sen/kWh.
Domestic users who have smart meters also have option to enter the Time of Use (ToU) scheme, allowing them to change their electricity usage patterns and take advantage of lower tariff rates during off-peak hours to enjoy savings on their monthly bill.
The scheme has two time zones, with off-peak timings being from 10pm to 2pm from Monday to Friday and throughout the day (24 hours) for weekends. Peak hours are from 2pm to 10pm on weekdays. Here are the energy charges under this scheme:
For usage of 1,500 kWh and below per month
- Peak tariff: 28.52 sen per kWh
- Off-peak tariff: 24.43 sen per kWh
For usage above 1,500 kWh per month
- Peak tariff: 38.52 sen per kWh
- Off-peak tariff: 34.43 sen per kWh
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At a time like this, it’s only sensible for all of us to be more prudent with our energy usage. While our electricity is mainly generated from coal and gas, the sharp rise in oil prices will still affect utility companies too. Power plants still depend on diesel for start-up and certain auxiliary operations, so higher oil prices will inevitably push up operating costs as well.