Green Electricity Tariff, CRESS & RECs: A Buyer's Guide

A Malaysian business shopping for green power in mid-2026 has four realistic routes: TNB's green electricity tariff (GET), direct supply from a renewable developer under CRESS, on-site solar under the new Solar ATAP scheme, and standalone Malaysia RECs (mRECs). They differ wildly in price, commitment and how defensible the resulting Scope 2 claim is. Here is the short version before we go option by option:

- GET — a 3–5 sen/kWh premium on your normal TNB bill, and the subscribed kWh are exempt from the AFA fuel surcharge and the 1.6% KWTBB levy. Backed by mRECs retired in your name. The low-commitment default for most consumers.
- CRESS — buy energy directly from a renewable developer (minimum 30 MW plant) under a Bilateral Energy Supply Contract, paying the developer's energy price plus a System Access Charge of 20 sen/kWh (firm) or 40 sen/kWh (non-firm). Medium- and high-voltage consumers in Peninsular Malaysia only. Suits large, steady loads that want a multi-year price hedge.
- Solar ATAP / SELCO — self-generation, sized up to 100% of maximum demand and capped at 1 MWac for export. Best economics per kWh, but limited by roof space.
- Standalone mRECs — the cheapest paper claim, with no electricity attached and the weakest story to an auditor or customer.

None of these change your location-based Scope 2 figure; they only move the market-based number. More on that below.

What is the green electricity tariff (GET) and what does it cost?

GET is a voluntary rider on your existing TNB supply: you keep the same connection and tariff, pay a premium per subscribed kWh, and TNB matches that volume with renewable generation, issuing you a Malaysia REC as proof.

The pricing was overhauled on 1 July 2025. TNB scrapped the old voltage-tiered premiums and moved to a single tier: 5 sen/kWh for a 1-year subscription, 4 sen for 2 years and 3 sen for 3 years. For a medium- or high-voltage site that previously faced 18–20 sen/kWh, that is a cut of up to roughly 80% (Saxon Renewables).

Two exemptions sweeten the deal further. Subscribed GET kWh don't pay the monthly Automatic Fuel Adjustment, which is capped at ±3 sen/kWh (currently zero), and they skip the 1.6% KWTBB renewable energy fund levy. When AFA turns positive, the effective GET premium shrinks below the headline rate (paultan.org).

Mechanics are simple: apply through myTNB in blocks of 1,000 kWh for non-residential accounts (100 kWh residential), up to 130% of your average monthly consumption, allocated first come, first served, with applications typically reviewed within about five working days.

Is it sold out? No. The mGATS registry showed a total opening quota of 6,600,000 MWh with 5,176,454 MWh subscribed and about 1,423,546 MWh (roughly 22%) still available as of 3 July 2026. The TNB GET page has at times rendered "available quota: 0 kWh", but the registry figure is the live one; check both before you apply.

Two details matter for credibility. First, GET is backed by mRECs issued under the I-REC Standard and tracked in mGATS, which is what makes it usable for market-based Scope 2 reporting. Second, tenants who are not TNB account holders are no longer locked out: GET Greenpath, launched 1 August 2025, lets non-domestic tenants subscribe for a 0.2 sen/kWh administrative surcharge, with the mRECs issued in the tenant's own name.

How does CRESS work, and who is it for?

CRESS (launched September 2024) opens TNB's grid to third-party supply: a renewable energy developer (RED) with a plant of at least 30 MW and a direct grid connection sells electricity straight to a corporate consumer under a Bilateral Energy Supply Contract (BESC). It is available to high-voltage and medium-voltage consumers in Peninsular Malaysia (Christopher & Lee Ong).

Instead of TNB energy charges, you pay the RED's contracted energy price plus a System Access Charge (SAC) for using the grid. PETRA cut the SAC effective 29 August 2025: firm supply dropped from 25 to 20 sen/kWh and non-firm from 45 to 40 sen/kWh (Saxon Renewables). The SAC is fixed for three years, aligned with the RP4 regulatory period (2025–2027), and any future revision is capped at 15%. That gives buyers genuine certainty on the grid-access component of the price.

Eligibility has widened too. Since the 1 March 2025 revision, CRESS is open to all new and existing consumers; the old restriction to new or incremental demand (with its 100 MW threshold) is gone, and a consumer may contract with more than one RED up to its declared maximum energy.

The third edition of the CRESS guidelines, issued by the Energy Commission on 29 December 2025, fixed two commercial pain points (RDS Law Partners). Excess energy exported beyond your consumption is now dealt with under the BESC rather than going to the grid uncompensated. And, critically for reporting: green attributes initially belong to the RED and only transfer to you if the BESC says so. If your contract is silent on attributes, you are buying electrons with no Scope 2 claim attached. Get that clause reviewed before signing.

CRESS is not a casual purchase. Between the power system studies, land lease and BESC negotiation, and Single Buyer review of the contract, it makes sense for large 24/7 loads (think plants and data centres) that want green supply and a long-term hedge in one instrument.

Solar ATAP: what replaced NEM?

Net energy metering is closed; applications ended in June 2025 and the scheme was replaced by Solar ATAP (Solar Accelerated Transition Action Programme) effective 1 January 2026 under guideline GP/ST/No.60/2025 (pv magazine).

For non-domestic consumers the headline terms are: system size up to 100% of maximum demand, capped at 1 MWac; a 10-year contract tenure, after which the system runs self-consumption only; and capacity allocated first come, first served. The big economic change is the export price. NEM offset exports against your retail tariff one for one. ATAP credits surplus at the average System Marginal Price, a wholesale market price that moves roughly every 30 minutes, which is generally worth less than the retail rate you avoid on self-consumed kWh. The design message is clear: size for self-consumption, not for export.

Pure self-consumption (SELCO) got easier at the same time. A 31 December 2025 notice moved the RM12/kWp standby charge and the battery storage requirement to apply only above 1 MWac; previously the BESS requirement kicked in at just 72 kWp (Baker McKenzie).

On-site solar still beats GET and CRESS on cost per green kWh because every self-consumed unit avoids the full retail energy rate. Its limits are physical: roof area and the 1 MWac cap. For the payback arithmetic and how to monitor actual yield, see our guide on rooftop solar monitoring and payback.

What actually changes in your Scope 2 numbers?

Under the GHG Protocol you dual-report Scope 2: a location-based figure using the grid emission factor, and a market-based figure using contractual instruments. GET with retired mRECs, CRESS attributes transferred via the BESC, and standalone mRECs all reduce only the market-based number; the location-based figure does not move (GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance). We cover the two methods and Malaysia's grid emission factor in detail in our Scope 2 emissions guide.

The pitfalls are all variations of one rule: an instrument only counts if the attribute is retired in your name. Buying GET and then separate mRECs for the same kWh is double counting. Claiming CRESS energy as green when the attributes stayed with the developer is a claim you cannot defend. Standalone mRECs are legitimate under the Scope 2 Quality Criteria, but they carry the least narrative weight with customers and auditors precisely because they are detached from your actual supply.

You still need the meter data

Every one of these instruments is denominated in kWh, so the first question is always the same: how many kWh, at which sites, on which accounts? A GET subscription is capped at 130% of average consumption; a CRESS BESC needs a declared maximum energy; ATAP sizing starts from your demand profile. If your consumption numbers live in a spreadsheet updated quarterly, you will either under-buy and miss your target or over-commit and pay for cover you don't need.

CobiNeural meters that consumption continuously, site by site and account by account, then carries it through to reporting: the Sustainability module computes market- and location-based Scope 2 from the same metered kWh you used to size the purchase, and the Reporting module turns it into EECA and ESG outputs. Buying the instrument is the easy half; proving the claim each year is the half that needs data. If you are weighing GET against CRESS or sizing an ATAP system, request a demo and we will walk through it with your own load profile.