Landlord’s Nightmare: Millions of Ringgit in Electricity Bills and How to Protect Yourself

Running a rental business carries many risks, and one of them is a runaway electricity bill for rental property in Malaysia that owners only discover when Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) sends the notice. The amount follows the registered user on the supply account, not the tenancy agreement. Press reports describe landlords and operators facing arrears after a tenant leaves and penalty bills that run from tens of thousands of ringgit into the millions. This article sets out six reported cases and how owners can catch a spike before it turns into arrears or a legal fight.

Updated in October 2026. Confirm current TNB charges on myTNB before acting.

Who pays for a runaway electricity bill for rental property in Malaysia?

TNB bills the registered user, meaning the person whose name is on the supply account. TNB’s published owner and tenant guidance says that only a Change of Tenancy (COT) makes the tenant responsible for the account.

However, once the account is in the tenant’s name, the landlord also loses the right to ask TNB to disconnect the supply if the tenant defaults. Conversely, if the account stays in the owner’s name, the owner is still the party TNB pursues. A tenancy agreement alone does not change that.

This holds even when someone else caused the usage. The rule depends on who holds the account, not on who used the power. The reported cases below show how that plays out in practice. For how monthly charges are built on a domestic account, see the TNB electricity tariff guide for rentals.

Six reported cases of runaway electricity bills in Malaysian rental properties

These six sections mix press-reported victims and one wider pattern. Cases 1 to 4 involve suspected cryptocurrency mining, with amounts as reported and not audited. Case 5 explains how unlicensed business use on a domestic account can push usage up even when there is no single headline penalty. Case 6 covers corporate identity fraud on TNB accounts. Separately, at a January 2025 press conference reported by Free Malaysia Today, victims said about 45 property and business owners faced roughly RM8.5 million in electricity charges after tenants misused their identities for bitcoin mining. Every example shares one pattern: the bill landed on the owner or the owner’s company, while the usage came from someone else.

Case 1: Ipoh shoplot and a RM1.2 million bill

According to The Star, January 2025, Yen Pit Yun rented out an upper shoplot in Simpang Pulai, Ipoh, in July 2024. About two months later, the owner received a RM1.2 million TNB bill. The tenant was suspected of cryptocurrency mining and power theft, and left within days of a police report. The same report noted wiring and wall damage at the property. The account reached seven figures within months.

Case 2: Manjung house and about RM86,000

The same Star report describes Mohd Najib Abdul Hadi, who rented out a house in Manjung, Perak, in January 2024. A TNB notice later cited meter tampering and suspected illegal cryptocurrency mining, with a bill of about RM86,000. The tenant could not be reached, and the house was left in poor condition. In this case, the owner was left to deal with the account alone.

Case 3: Puchong shoplot and a RM695,000 penalty

Free Malaysia Today, January 2022 reported on Wu Tuan Chiang, 70, who rented out a Puchong shoplot for RM1,600 a month from May 2019. The tenant was suspected of tampering with the meter to mine bitcoin, and TNB later imposed a RM695,000 penalty. The tenant had moved out by December 2020. Wu was one of 10 owners whose combined fines totalled about RM1.76 million at an MCA public complaints press conference. A tenant can leave before a bill is settled, and the dispute can outlast the tenancy.

Case 4: Jason and RM825,000 after a RM1.7 million claim

The Rakyat Post, February 2025 describes a landlord identified only as Jason, who was first billed RM1.7 million in December 2020. TNB linked the charge to illegal power cabling tied to the tenant’s cryptocurrency use. Court proceedings, reported between 2022 and 2024, ended with a ruling against Jason, and the amount was settled at RM825,000 after the penalty was reduced. Disputes over bills like this can run for years, even after a penalty is reduced.

Case 5: Residential rentals used as hidden business premises

Some of the costliest rental electricity problems begin when a tenant runs a business from a house, terrace unit, or room rental while the TNB account stays on a domestic tariff. Domestic supply is meant for private dwelling use. TNB’s change-of-tariff guidance explains that the utility can reclassify an account after a site verification shows how the premises are really used. A “residential only” clause in a tenancy agreement does not bind TNB, and the registered user remains liable for the bill.

Local reporting shows the pattern. Sinar Harian reported that DBKL closed an unlicensed kicap (soy sauce) processing operation inside a house at Batu 5, Gombak, in October 2023. Unlicensed food operations, such as the two ice factories Utusan Borneo reported closed in Bintulu in April 2023, bring freezer loads that a domestic meter was never designed for. Mining dominates the headlines, but the quieter cases involve ordinary homes turned into kitchens, workshops, and cold stores. In May 2025, The Star urged landlords to verify a tenant’s intended use before leasing and to watch utility bills closely.

Owners usually notice first because the account is in their name. A milder case shows the exposure: a TNB news clip of theSun reporting, January 2024 described one rented house with arrears of about RM21,894 over roughly four years. That usage was legal, but it shows how quickly a bill can grow on an owner-held account. Check the myTNB usage trend for jumps that do not match occupancy. Realistic loads from an “online business” include welding equipment, food preparation, cold storage, and round-the-clock air-conditioning.

Case 6: Tom and ten accounts opened in a company name

iMoney, February 2025 reported on a businessman identified only as Tom, who said ten TNB accounts had been opened under his company using fraudulent company documents. The accounts accumulated about RM700,000 in unpaid charges. The case shows how fraud can place a company’s name on accounts it never opened.

Arrears still matter when a tenant leaves owing money

The same registered user rule applies when a tenant leaves with an unpaid balance. If the account is still in the owner’s name, the balance stays with the owner, even though the tenant ran up the bill. The bill can also reach the owner after the tenant has moved out, so the owner may not see the full amount until the tenancy has ended.

PropertyGuru cites a 2020 news report describing about RM5,000 left outstanding after tenants moved out. That figure is secondhand and has not been verified against the original report, but it illustrates the pattern. The guide also describes how landlords can monitor utility bills on the account during a tenancy.

How owners can protect the account before a spike becomes a liability

No single measure removes the risk, so owners combine account rules, monitoring, metering, and alerts. Each one covers a different gap.

Completing a Change of Tenancy moves responsibility for the account to the tenant, as TNB’s owner and tenant guidance explains. Where the account stays in the owner’s name, the owner keeps that responsibility, which makes monitoring the account essential. Checking it on myTNB during the month shows whether consumption is climbing before the final figure arrives.

A sub-meter measures the electricity used by one room or even the entire property, so a spike can be traced to the part of the property that caused it. Sub-meters work best alongside the main TNB reading, because the gap between the two shows how much of the bill falls outside the individually metered rooms. The sub-meter installation cost guide sets out what the setup costs.

Prepaid room meters tie each room’s power use to the credit its occupant has bought. They work best when paired with a monthly record of each room’s credit and use, so any spike can be matched to the room that drove it. The prepaid power playbook explains how agents and co-living operators use them.

Catching a spike early leaves more options than discovering it only when the bill arrives. PowerLah automates this monitoring and alerts owners when a property’s monthly electricity consumption is projected to exceed its average bill. PowerLah sends an in-app notification and an email to the property’s alert recipients, which can include owners and managers. The alert arrives while the month is still open, giving owners precious time to act before a spike turns into financial and legal liabilities.

Frequently asked questions

Keep usage visible for the whole tenancy

The six cases above show how quickly a shared account can grow into a seven-figure dispute. The figures come from press reports and have not been audited, but the pattern is consistent. The bill landed on the account holder, and the usage came from someone the owner did not directly control. Owners and managers who track the account through each tenancy, and check projected spend during the month, can act while a spike is still only a warning. Early visibility gives them more options than a dispute that starts after the bill has arrived.