Malaysia ranks 4th in cost of obtaining electricity
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia leapt nine places to 15th spot from 24th previously among 190 economies worldwide in the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2019 Report” last week, a resounding testimony of the ongoing reforms in the country.
Malaysia’s reforms in the past year covering six areas, including securing electricity, resulted in the dramatic jump for the overall business score.
In the area of getting electricity, the report said Malaysia was now ranked fourth globally, with the cost for businesses to obtain electricity connection in the country being only 26 per cent of income per capita versus an average of 625 per cent in East Asia and the Pacific.
That achievement spoke volumes of Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) ongoing transformation efforts as it strives to enhance its services to customers and the nation as encapsulated by its “Better. Brighter” slogan.
The slogan, in line with the byword that “customers always come first”, has seen TNB taking an evolutionary step towards adopting a value-centric approach to provide superior service as it keeps pace with the rapid innovative changes in the energy industry.
Under a strategic plan currently under way until 2025 aimed at constantly keeping customers satisfied, TNB will continuously innovate and tap on technology to shape its future.
The strategic plan aims to enhance TNB’s business strategy and practices towards having sustainable development across the value chain — from generation to transmission and dis- tribution (grid) as well as customer service.
“As the industry landscape shifts, we must adapt a value-centric approach to meeting the needs of our customers, including those beyond electricity consumption such as in energy-savings solutions,” said its president and chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Ir Azman Mohd in his statement to shareholders for its integrated annual report ended December 31 2017.
The national power utility has so far embraced technology in multiple forms to provide exceptional care to customers and ensure they get the best and most convenient service possible.
For instance, in terms of payment channels, TNB has extended its services beyond counters (at its own Kedai Tenaga outlets, Pos Malaysia and convenience stores such as 7Eleven) by having facilities like e-pay, direct debit, Internet banking, payment kiosks and JomPAY.
In addition, TNB now has a portal known as myTNB self-service portal and myTNB app to provide greater transparency and accessibility.
The self-service portal and smartphone app also allow its 8.8 million customers in the peninsula the convenience of checking or paying monthly bills, applying for electricity supply or closing an account — all at their fingertips.
Essentially, all the services that customers normally undertake at Kedai Tenaga can be done through the portal and the app.
To enhance its superior quality service, TNB is also upgrading its grid network, which spans about 22,000km across Peninsular Malaysia.
TNB will embark on a “grid of the future” project where its grid network will eventually be transformed into one of the smartest, most automated and digitally-enabled grids in the world.
The National Grid upgrade includes a new “super highway” that will help TNB meet current and future electricity needs, especially in high load areas such as Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The project will allow the group to tap power from upcoming power plants in the west coast into the National Grid.
Concurrently, TNB is installing smart meters as part of its overall strategy to build an advanced metering infrastructure covering 340,000 residential customers in Melaka, with plans for an additional 1.2 million customers in the Klang Valley before expanding it throughout the peninsula.
As TNB accelerates its drive towards an enhanced value-centric approach, the national power utility will offer improved customer experience by embarking on clean power generation and packaging smart home technology, energy savings and energy efficiency solutions.
To maintain its passion for continued customer satisfaction, TNB has also taken steps to upgrade its contact centres and enhance workforce capabilities in digital and data science to keep up with increasingly complex needs of its customers.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo had said TNB had a ready fibre infrastructure that can be utilised by telecommunications companies, which will result in a faster and cheaper fiberisation deployment throughout the country.