TNB Time of Use: Should I Opt In?

Since July 2025, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) offers an optional Time-of-Use (ToU) electricity plan for homes in Peninsular Malaysia. However, unless you actively opt in, your rented property will stay on the standard flat-rate tariff instead of TNB time of use.

The TNB time of use plan charges different rates depending on the time of day:

• Peak hours: Weekdays from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM.
• Off-peak hours: Weekdays from 10:00 PM to 2:00 PM, plus all day on weekends and 15 specific public holidays.

This plan saves you money if the household uses most of its electricity during off-peak hours. Conversely, your electricity bill will go up if heavy usage happens during weekday afternoons and evenings. This article explores common household electricity usage patterns to help you decide if switching makes financial sense for your rental property.

Updated September 2026. Rates and holiday lists might change, so verify the live schedule on myTNB and the Energy Commission (Suruhanjaya Tenaga).

What Domestic Time-of-Use changes on a rented house

Domestic ToU is an opt-in energy schedule under Regulatory Period 4 (RP4). myTNB’s July 2026 notice publishes the Domestic ToU and general energy rates in the table below.

Monthly use	General energy rate	ToU peak	ToU off-peak
At or below 1,500 kWh	27.03 sen/kWh	28.52 sen/kWh	24.43 sen/kWh
Above 1,500 kWh	37.03 sen/kWh	38.52 sen/kWh	34.43 sen/kWh

At either band, off-peak energy is 2.60 sen/kWh below the general rate and peak energy is 1.49 sen/kWh above it. Those gaps cover energy charges only. myTNB lists a capacity charge of 4.55 sen/kWh and a network charge of 12.85 sen/kWh on every unit, so 24.43 sen/kWh is not the all-in price. The retail charge is RM10 a month, but it’s waived if the property’s monthly electricity consumption is at or below 600 kWh.

Note: For domestic consumption from 1 September through 31 December 2026, myTNB raises that exemption threshold to 800 kWh a month for the Automatic Fuel Adjustment (AFA), the retail charge, and Service Tax (SST). The standing 600 kWh line returns on 1 January 2027. See the TNB electricity bill protection guide for the shared-rental detail.

In a typical week without any public holiday, SoyaCincau calculates there are 128 off-peak hours and 40 peak hours. The TNB’s notice in July 2026 specifies that all-day off-peak ToU hours apply to 15 named public holidays, which are major national-level holidays such as Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Aidilfitri. This is important to note since it’s easy to assume that “any public holiday is automatically off-peak hours”, which is not the case. State-level public holidays (which there are many) are typically not included in that list.

Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) publish their own tariffs. These Peninsular ToU rates do not apply in Kota Kinabalu or Kuching.

When TNB time of use saves a rented house money

ToU lowers the energy charge when enough of the month’s kWh falls in off-peak windows: bedroom aircond after 10pm, laundry on weekends, and limited weekday use between 2pm and 10pm.

When comparing base energy costs, the break-even point for the ToU plan is about 64%:

• To save money: Your peak-hour electricity usage must stay below 64% of your total monthly consumption.
• When it costs more: If 64% or more of your usage happens during peak hours, the ToU plan becomes more expensive than the standard flat rate.

Keep in mind that this 64% rule only applies to the base energy charge. Your final bill will still include standard, separate fees such as network charges, retail charges, and fuel adjustments (AFA), which are not affected by the ToU schedule and can still cause your total bill to fluctuate.

In a rented house, the entire property shares a single electricity meter. This means the ToU plan applies to the combined electricity use of the whole house, rather than individual rooms.

Because all usage is pooled together, heavy off-peak habits like running air conditioners at night or doing laundry on weekends can easily offset someone else’s peak afternoon usage. Even if one tenant uses a lot of power during the day, the house’s overall peak usage can still stay below the 64% threshold. For more details on how nighttime cooling affects your overall bill, see our aircond electricity cost guide.

Whether tenants split the bills equally or pay rent with utilities included, the final cost comes from this single household total. Ultimately, the combined daily routine of the entire house determines if ToU saves money, not just one person’s habits.

When the ToU Plan Costs More

The ToU plan will increase your overall bill if the household relies too heavily on electricity during peak hours. If multiple tenants run their air conditioners throughout weekday afternoons, it can easily push the whole house past the break-even point even if other rooms sit empty until night.

In Malaysia, renters typically switch on the air conditioning the moment they get home from work or class, which often falls right into the 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM peak window. Because of this, houses with students or work-from-home tenants are much more likely to lose money on a ToU plan compared to households where tenants go to work during regular daytime hours or save heavy chores for the weekend.

Since TNB bills the property as a single account, this creates a challenge for roommates who split utilities costs equally. When daytime cooling drives up the peak charges, the extra cost is divided evenly among everyone, with no straightforward way to tell which specific room used the most power.

How Everyday Appliances Increase Your Bill

It is not just air conditioning that drives up peak charges. Using other high-power appliances during the 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM window can also easily push your house past the break-even point. Common culprits in rental houses include:

• Taking long hot showers with instant water heaters.
• Regular cooking using induction hobs, rice cookers, electric ovens, and kettles.
• Doing laundry or running tumble dryers on weekday evenings instead of waiting for the weekend.

Shared appliances and personal hobbies add up quickly, too. Kitchens with multiple refrigerators or freezers naturally draw more power during hot afternoons because their compressors have to work harder to keep the compartment cool. Similarly, plugging in an electric vehicle as soon as you get home, or running power-hungry gaming PCs and entertainment systems throughout the evening, falls directly into the expensive peak window.

Because TNB applies the ToU rates to the entire house, roommates splitting the bill equally will all pay for this expensive peak usage. This is where being able to measure individual room consumptions with hourly data helps in determining whether it’s worth it to switch to ToU.

Testing the ToU Switch with Room Submeters

Instead of guessing, you can track the actual usage to see if ToU is right for your property. If you have room submeters installed, you can monitor how much power is used during the 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM weekday window. Tracking this data for just a few weeks will clearly show if your property stays below the break-even point before you commit to switching.

Depending on these usage patterns, shared houses typically handle electricity billing in one of three ways:

• Standard Flat Rate: The default choice when tenants have mixed schedules and no one wants to risk expensive peak charges.
• Time-of-Use (ToU): The best option for the whole house if the combined usage heavily favors nights (after 10:00 PM) and weekends.
• Prepaid Room Meters: Tenants buy electricity credit in advance for their specific rooms, paying exactly for what they use. This works whether the main house account is on a flat rate or ToU plan.

If you choose prepaid meters, they work best when paired with clear house rules. Establishing upfront policies on how to split common-area electricity, handle power usage in vacant rooms, and refund leftover credit will prevent arguments down the road.

Tools like PowerLah automatically track individual room usage and calculate costs using current TNB rates. This allows landlords to see exactly when peak usage happens and safely compare it against the ToU window before officially changing their TNB tariff.

To learn more about setting this up, read our guides on prepaid electricity for rental rooms and how smart power metering works. For a deeper dive into overall bill calculations, check out the TNB electricity tariff guide.

How to Apply for the ToU Plan

If tracking your usage shows that the ToU plan is a good fit, the registered account holder can officially opt in.

You can apply in one of three ways:

• Through the myTNB app
• By emailing [email protected]
• In person at a Kedai Tenaga counter

TNB will charge a one-time RM10 stamp duty, which will simply appear on your next bill.

Activation Times
How long it takes to switch depends on your current meter setup:

• With an existing smart meter: Lowyat.NET reports that activation takes about five working days.
• Without a smart meter: If TNB needs to install one first, SoyaCincau notes the process can take up to two months.

Switching Back
Be aware of the terms before committing. Malay Mail reports you must stay on the ToU plan for a minimum of six months before you can return to the standard flat rate. SoyaCincau also notes that switching back requires another RM10 stamp duty. Because reports vary, always verify the exact lock-in period and conditions shown in the myTNB app at the time of your application.

Frequently Asked Questions

Making the Right Decision for Your Rental

The Domestic ToU plan applies a time-based energy rate to your entire property. It lowers your overall bill if the household uses most of its power at night and on weekends, but it will cost you more if heavy consumption happens during weekday afternoons.

For shared rentals considering TNB time of use, room submeters and the ToU plan serve two different but complementary purposes. Submeters allow you to track overall usage patterns before you opt into ToU, and they help you fairly divide the final TNB bill among roommates based on actual usage. Together, they give you the data needed to make a smart, cost-effective decision for the whole house.