The Star prints a data-centre connected-load charge of RM89.64 a kilowatt, from RM8.50 - TNB's page still prints RM8.50 on the monthly shortfall, the speech prints no start date, and solar and a battery are named with no megawatts
On 11 November 2026 The Star said Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Johari Abdul Ghani, speaking on 10 November, put the connected load charge at RM89.64 per kilowatt, from RM8.50. The page prints 117 approved data centres, roughly 23,500 MW of maximum demand, and status lines of 55, 19, 16 and 27. Adding those four lines is 117, our arithmetic. 89.64 divided by 8.50 is 10.545882 to six decimal places, our arithmetic. The 11 November page does not print a month, a shortfall or a start date. Tenaga Nasional's charges page still prints RM8.50 per kilowatt, monthly, on the gap between actual and reference demand, and it does not print RM89.64. A 14 November Star page prints a government line of 31% of Peninsular Malaysia's electricity by 2035, from 4% in 2025, and an analyst line of around 60 sen a kilowatt-hour against a 45.40 sen base tariff. The 11 November page prints 7% and 31% and does not name the grid. Solar and batteries are named. No workplace battery megawatts are printed.
A data centre in Malaysia that reserves grid capacity and then leaves it idle is the customer on this page. The charge is on that reservation. A factory roof is not priced here.
On 11 November 2026 The Star reported a 10 November speech by Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Johari Abdul Ghani at the Bursa Malaysia Sectoral Series. He said the government has raised the connected load charge from RM8.50 to RM89.64 per kilowatt. The page calls the unused reservation phantom demand. It says Tenaga Nasional would already have planned infrastructure for the full declaration. It does not print a month. It does not print a shortfall. It does not print a start date. 89.64 divided by 8.50 is 10.545882 to six decimal places, our arithmetic. The page does not print that multiple.
The same page prints 117 approved data centres and a combined maximum energy demand of roughly 23,500 MW. Of those 117, it prints 55 operational, 19 under construction, 16 approved and not started, and 27 greenlit for off-grid supply. 55 plus 19 plus 16 plus 27 is 117, our arithmetic. Another 24 applications are stalled, pending power and water checks. Those 24 sit outside the 117. The page also prints data-centre investment moving from 0.4% of total approved investments of RM1.25 billion in 2021 to 43.9% or RM95.8 billion in the first half of financial year 2026. The page prints RM1.25bil and RM95.8bil. It does not print the 2026 total those percentages sit on.
Tenaga Nasional's charges page, read for this note, still prints a connected load charge of RM8.50 per kilowatt. It says that rate is charged for every kilowatt of shortfall between actual maximum demand and a reference maximum demand, and that the charge is calculated monthly and shown on the bill. The implementation date printed on that page is 15 January 2021. The page does not print RM89.64. It does not print a 2026 start date. A reader who multiplies RM89.64 by the whole reserved load is using a rate the speech printed and a base the speech did not describe.
On 14 November 2026 The Star printed a second page. It says government projections put data centres at 31% of total electricity consumption in Peninsular Malaysia by 2035, from 4% in 2025. The 11 November page is a different line. There, Bursa Malaysia chairman Abdul Farid Alias says data centres account for around 7% of electricity consumption, projected to rise to 31% by 2035, and that page does not name the grid. The 14 November page also prints analyst estimates of an effective average around 60 sen per kilowatt-hour under an ultra high voltage tariff, against a current average base tariff of 45.40 sen per kilowatt-hour, and calls that roughly one-third higher. 60 divided by 45.40 is 1.32 to two decimal places, our arithmetic. The 60 sen line is an analyst estimate. The 11 November page names an ultra high voltage category and says operators bear transmission upgrade expenses. It does not print 60 sen or 45.40 sen.
The 11 November page says developers are pointed toward off-grid gas, solar, hydropower and batteries. It prints no megawatts and no sen rate for that solar or that battery. The 14 November page says Moody's Ratings notes about 73 TWh of data-centre demand by 2035, which could require an extra 14 GW to 17 GW, and generation investment of around RM80 billion to RM95 billion, against 28 GW of installed capacity in 2025. The page says that estimate assumes gas-fired plants, and that the investment could be lower if renewable energy and battery storage take a bigger share. It does not print the battery's megawatts. It also says one industry expert estimates that a 1 GW data centre on 250 acres could require 20,000 to 25,000 acres of solar for a 24-hour supply. That is the expert's estimate on the page. The page does not print a battery kilowatt-hour beside it. The same page says some sources report that a few of the 27 data centres made subject to on-site energy production have waivers. It does not print how many.
A 2 November note on this desk records a separate 30% renewable line for data centres: 30% of energy, with the test still unsettled. That page is not this charge. It does not print RM89.64.
Analogy: the speech names a new sticker for unused reserved kilowatts. The utility page still rings up the old sticker, and only on the unused gap, once a month. Neither page prices a battery on a roof.
Good: A 10 November speech, reported on 11 November, with RM89.64 and RM8.50 kept as the minister's pair, 117 kept as the sum of 55, 19, 16 and 27, and the utility page left on RM8.50 per kilowatt of monthly shortfall.
Bad: No start date. No month and no shortfall on the speech page. No 2026 total under the 43.9% line. The 7% line does not name a grid. The 4% line is a different page and a different year. The 60 sen figure is an analyst estimate. Solar and the battery have no megawatts. The waiver line does not print a count. 20,000 to 25,000 acres is one expert's estimate.
Ugly: Pasting RM89.64 onto every reserved kilowatt, every month, when the speech prints neither a month nor a shortfall and the utility page still prints RM8.50. Treating 7% and 4% as one figure. Treating 60 sen as the minister's rate. Treating 20,000 acres as a factory roof. Inventing a battery size.
Soft next step: write RM89.64 as the minister's rate on the 11 November page, keep RM8.50 and the monthly shortfall on the utility page, and leave the start date and the battery's megawatts blank.
Source: The Star, 11 Nov 2026, data-centre grid reservations. Primary for the 11 November date, the 10 November Bursa Malaysia Sectoral Series speech by Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Johari Abdul Ghani, the connected load charge moving from RM8.50 to RM89.64 per kilowatt, phantom demand as unused reserved capacity, 117 approved data centres, roughly 23,500 MW of combined maximum demand, 55 operational, 19 under construction, 16 approved and not started, 27 greenlit for off-grid supply, 24 applications stalled, investment moving from 0.4% of total approved investments of RM1.25bil in 2021 to 43.9% or RM95.8bil in the first half of financial year 2026, an ultra high voltage category with operators bearing transmission upgrades, off-grid gas, solar, hydropower and batteries with no megawatts, and Bursa Malaysia chairman Abdul Farid Alias on around 7% of electricity consumption rising to 31% by 2035 with no grid named. The page does not print a month, a shortfall or a start date. 55 plus 19 plus 16 plus 27 is 117, our arithmetic. 89.64 divided by 8.50 is 10.545882 to six decimal places, our arithmetic. The Star, 14 Nov 2026, data centres and tariffs. Primary for government projections of 31% of Peninsular Malaysia electricity consumption by 2035 from 4% in 2025, analyst estimates of around 60 sen per kilowatt-hour under the ultra high voltage tariff against a 45.40 sen average base tariff, called roughly one-third higher, Moody's Ratings figures of about 73 TWh, an extra 14 GW to 17 GW, around RM80 billion to RM95 billion, and 28 GW of installed capacity in 2025, the line that the investment could be lower if renewable energy and batteries take a bigger share, one expert's estimate of 20,000 to 25,000 acres of solar for a 1 GW data centre on 250 acres, and sources saying a few of the 27 have waivers, with no count. 60 divided by 45.40 is 1.32 to two decimal places, our arithmetic. Tenaga Nasional, charges and penalties page, read for this note. Primary for RM8.50 per kilowatt on the shortfall between actual maximum demand and reference maximum demand, the monthly calculation, and the 15 January 2021 implementation line. That page does not print RM89.64 or a 2026 start date. The 2 November note on a 30% renewable line is a different page.