KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government views the taking over of regulatory powers for the supply of electricity and renewable energy from the Federal government will facilitate the implementation of plans to ensure a stable energy supply in the state.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the initiative would benefit Sabah’s socio-economic development through the provision of a sufficient, stable, reasonable and sustainable supply of energy, in line with the Sabah Energy Roadmap and Masterplan 2040 (SE-RAMP 2040).

“The SE-RAMP 2040 was formulated by the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) and launched last September to support the Sabah Maju Jaya roadmap,” he said after the special session of the Sabah State Assembly here today.

At the special sitting, the Sabah State Assembly passed three bills to allow Sabah to officially take control of the regulatory powers of the electricity supply and renewable energy sectors from the Federal government.

It involves the Sabah Energy Commission Enactment 2023 (Amendment 2024); Electricity Supply Enactment Bill 2024; and Sabah Renewable Energy Enactment Bill 2024.

After the enactments are gazetted, ECoS will become the authority that regulates the electricity supply and renewable energy sector in Sabah with immediate effect.

ECoS obtained the regulatory powers on the onshore gas supply sector on Jan 10 last year.

Hajiji said the Sabah government, through ECoS, will ensure the process of taking over regulatory authority over power supply is implemented effectively and systematically, without any disruptions to the stakeholders in the state’s electricity supply industry.

“This initiative is also part of the handing over of regulatory powers under the Malaysia Agreement 1963,” he said. -Bernama