During yesterday’s Clubhouse session, @anuarfariz mentioned Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), and that reminded me of some old notes I had.



A THREAD on one of the greatest struggles in providing a basic right, electricity, to residents in Malaysia's easternmost state 👇

1/ SESB was privatised circa 1998 to nurse a financially distressed state-owned utility back to profitability by taking it out of the hands of the state and placing it in the care of the federal government.
2/ Ownership wise: TNB is major shareholder with 82%, Sabah gov owns the remainder and the Finance Ministry holds a golden share.
3/ Back-of-the-envelope calculations from 2010-2019 annual reports showed that the company had received about RM13 billion in subsidies and development grants from Putrajaya. That number is sans loan obligations to the federal government which stood at RM2.39 billion as of 2019.
4/ Federal aid had helped SESB post stable revenue and net profits across the period under review since subsidies were recognised as company revenue and grants + loans used to finance capex/opex.
5/ But in SESB’s 2019 annual report, external auditor PwC said the company can only continue as a going concern depending on “continuing financial support from the shareholders and on the company attaining sufficient cash inflows to sustain its operations.”
6/ Its current liabilities (RM2.11 billion) had exceeded its current assets (RM1.91 billion) for FY19. SESB still owes TNB RM450 million which the latter said would not not seek full repayment until former had the financial capacity to do so.
7/ Further, SESB defaulted on an RM304.9 million loan with Putrajaya as at December 31, 2019, therefore accruing a RM13.1 million penalty. It is currently negotiating with Putrajaya on both repayment and penalty.
8/ Three reasons have put SESB on the back foot: absence of political will, tight cash reserves and expensive power generation costs.
9/ As Putrajaya owns that powerful golden share, a source said that created rifts in implementing large projects as the federal government could veto decisions including M&As and asset disposals.
10/ Tariff reviews are also subject to federal approval. Latest revision to 34.52 sen/kwh from 29.52% sen/kwh effective 2014 but newer quantum 42% lower than actual operation costs ~82.19 sen/kwh.
11/ Sabah’s fuel mix consists of 86% gas, 7% hydro, 4% diesel/medium fuel oil, 2% biomass/biogas and less than 1% solar, according to the Energy Commission’s (EC) data.
12/ Power generation in west coast is highly dependent on gas while less populous east coast mainly relies on diesel. But Sabah’s east coast plagued with frequent disruptions due to theft with losses up to RM4 million between 2017 and 2019.
13/ There are also middlemen or appointed independent power distributors where residents pay them to forward the money to SESB, leading to charges rising double or triple the normal amount.

https://t.co/hhgSNHBYJO
14/ Have to factor in procurement problems and potential wastage, leakage. A RM2.3 billion mini-hydro dam in the state scheduled to be completed last year has yet to be built as the appointed contractor tasked to undertake preliminary work lacked funds.

https://t.co/p0F74a9ghj
15/ Other state-wide problems including ageing grid network (20 years or more) that is fast approaching design load limits and inefficient combined cycle gas plants.
16/ Naturally customers in the state experience power disruptions 4x greater than in peninsula, based on the system average interruption duration index (Saidi), a commonly used reliability indicator by power utilities.
17/ Sabah’s Saidi stood at 267 minutes/year/customer compared to 50 m/y/c and 112 m/y/c in Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak respectively, according to EC data.
18/ Interruptions are its worst in the remote corners of Sabah, such as Pitas and Tambunan, which happen to be among the poorest areas, with a Saidi of 302.63 m/y/c. If Pitas rings a bell, it's where student Veveonah Mosibin comes from.

https://t.co/MnhzUK23Lm
19/ SESB is also dependent on independent power producers to meet 80% supply. With thin cash reserves and high opex, banks might be way of lending for expansion unless there's some kind of guarantee. SESB’s opex is ~RM1.79 billion a year.
20/ Currently there are six major transmission projects, from upgrading to new transmissions, costing RM840 million and targeted for completion in late 2021 or early 2022. There's also interconnection with Sarawak which is supposed to kick off in 2022.
21/ Pakatan Harapan tried pushing for SESB divestment and place it entirely in Sabah’s hands. A due diligence study was completed in 2019 but report has yet to be made public.
22/ Sabah Deputy Chief Minister I Bung Mokhtar Radin recently said state will only take back SESB once profitable. Consultants believe it will take another 20 years to put SESB back on a stronger footing to self sustainability. Until then taxpayers will need to rescue it.

/End
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🌿𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓 : 𝑫𝒉𝒓𝒖𝒗𝒂 & 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒏𝒖

Once upon a time there was a Raja named Uttānapāda born of Svayambhuva Manu,1st man on earth.He had 2 beautiful wives - Suniti & Suruchi & two sons were born of them Dhruva & Uttama respectively.
#talesofkrishna https://t.co/E85MTPkF9W


Now Suniti was the daughter of a tribal chief while Suruchi was the daughter of a rich king. Hence Suruchi was always favored the most by Raja while Suniti was ignored. But while Suniti was gentle & kind hearted by nature Suruchi was venomous inside.
#KrishnaLeela


The story is of a time when ideally the eldest son of the king becomes the heir to the throne. Hence the sinhasan of the Raja belonged to Dhruva.This is why Suruchi who was the 2nd wife nourished poison in her heart for Dhruva as she knew her son will never get the throne.


One day when Dhruva was just 5 years old he went on to sit on his father's lap. Suruchi, the jealous queen, got enraged and shoved him away from Raja as she never wanted Raja to shower Dhruva with his fatherly affection.


Dhruva protested questioning his step mother "why can't i sit on my own father's lap?" A furious Suruchi berated him saying "only God can allow him that privilege. Go ask him"
🌺कैसे बने गरुड़ भगवान विष्णु के वाहन और क्यों दो भागों में फटी होती है नागों की जिह्वा🌺

महर्षि कश्यप की तेरह पत्नियां थीं।लेकिन विनता व कद्रु नामक अपनी दो पत्नियों से उन्हे विशेष लगाव था।एक दिन महर्षि आनन्दभाव में बैठे थे कि तभी वे दोनों उनके समीप आकर उनके पैर दबाने लगी।


प्रसन्न होकर महर्षि कश्यप बोले,"मुझे तुम दोनों से विशेष लगाव है, इसलिए यदि तुम्हारी कोई विशेष इच्छा हो तो मुझे बताओ। मैं उसे अवश्य पूरा करूंगा ।"

कद्रू बोली,"स्वामी! मेरी इच्छा है कि मैं हज़ार पुत्रों की मां बनूंगी।"
विनता बोली,"स्वामी! मुझे केवल एक पुत्र की मां बनना है जो इतना बलवान हो की कद्रू के हज़ार पुत्रों पर भारी पड़े।"
महर्षि बोले,"शीघ्र ही मैं यज्ञ करूंगा और यज्ञ के उपरांत तुम दोनो की इच्छाएं अवश्य पूर्ण होंगी"।


महर्षि ने यज्ञ किया,विनता व कद्रू को आशीर्वाद देकर तपस्या करने चले गए। कुछ काल पश्चात कद्रू ने हज़ार अंडों से काले सर्पों को जन्म दिया व विनता ने एक अंडे से तेजस्वी बालक को जन्म दिया जिसका नाम गरूड़ रखा।जैसे जैसे समय बीता गरुड़ बलवान होता गया और कद्रू के पुत्रों पर भारी पड़ने लगा


परिणामस्वरूप दिन प्रतिदिन कद्रू व विनता के सम्बंधों में कटुता बढ़ती गयी।एकदिन जब दोनो भ्रमण कर रहीं थी तब कद्रू ने दूर खड़े सफेद घोड़े को देख कर कहा,"बता सकती हो विनता!दूर खड़ा वो घोड़ा किस रंग का है?"
विनता बोली,"सफेद रंग का"।
तो कद्रू बोली,"शर्त लगाती हो? इसकी पूँछ तो काली है"।