Chronic power outages in Sabah a lightning rod ahead of state polls

Timing of recent blackout casts pall over its ruling party and allies including Anwar's PH

- Shannon Teoh Malaysia Bureau Chief

In the middle of a presentation to investors, the lights at developer KTI's headquarters flickered off and on again as the backup generator kicked in. "Welcome to Sabah," group executive director Wilson Loke said with a wry smile.

Such outages are common in the eastern state, where residents suffer more power outages than those anywhere else in Malaysia. Most major firms have a Plan B, usually private generators like KTI's. Others have direct power supply agreements, such as the whopping 70MW deal for South Korean copper foil maker SK Nexilis' RM2.3 billion (S$706 million) plant in Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park.

But the common Sabahan had to endure an average of over nine hours without electricity in 2023 despite public outcry over power problems that date back to the 1980s.

This woeful state of infrastructure in Sabah especially basic amenities such as electricity supply has come into sharp focus ahead of a state election due by January. It cannot escape comparison with neighbouring Bornean state Sarawak, where mega projects in the power sector have sparked a belief that it can even export renewable power as Asean's "green battery".

"The view that there is no improvement in infrastructural development is prompted by chronic blackouts, muddy roads, landslides, torrential floods and lack of clean water. The comparison with Sarawak only compounds the sheer disgust," Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun, a veteran Sabah watcher, told The Sunday Times.

Sabah has so far struggled to generate enough power for its own needs, with the reserve margin at just 5 per cent above peak demand of about 1,100MW in 2024, compared with Peninsular Malaysia's excess of nearly 40 per cent. This means a power plant going down in Sabah is more likely to result in outages.