‘Long-Term Solution to Tackle Rising Costs Needed’

THE domestic power sector needs to find a “permanent solution” to face rising energy prices, national utility Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) said.

TNB chief Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said the company expects a challenging year in 2008, partly due to the fast rising coal price, which adds an extra “few hundred millions” on its coal expenditure this year.

“We need to discuss this matter with the government. At the end of the day, as an organisation, TNB can’t forever absorb these costs,” he said.

“Everybody has to look at the way energy prices are going up now in a more realistic way, we can’t keep on suppressing this issue,” he said.

“We have to look at it and find a permanent solution because now we only have a short-term solution,” Che Khalib said.

(c) 2007 New Straits Times. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.