SESCO (Syarikat SESCO Berhad) is a subsidiary of Sarawak Energy Group, the state-owned utility that supplies electricity in Kuching. If a bill, a hotline recording, or a neighbour mentions SESCO and someone else says Sarawak Energy, they are talking about the same utility: one name is the subsidiary, the other is the group.
The two names are easy to mix up, so it’s worth settling before anything else. Once you know the account is with Sarawak Energy, the rest is fairly ordinary utility admin: an account in your name or your landlord’s, and a monthly bill on a tariff that starts low. That holds right up until you start running aircon every night.
TL;DR
- SESCO (Syarikat SESCO Berhad) is a subsidiary of Sarawak Energy Group; in everyday use the two names refer to the same utility.
- Sarawak’s domestic tariff runs in bands: 18 sen per unit (kWh) at the bottom, rising to 31.5 sen above 1,300 units a month, so the bands above the first one push a bill up fast once aircon enters the picture.
- You can check and pay your bill through the SEB cares portal and app, or via JomPAY from most Malaysian banking apps.
- Opening a new account or transferring one into your name needs your MyKad (foreigners should ask customer care about a passport), the tenancy agreement, and a deposit. Budget roughly RM300 to RM700 for an ordinary home; Sarawak Energy’s tenant schedule runs from RM700 for a terrace house or flat up to RM2,400 for a large detached house.
- Aircon is the big swing factor on a bill. My own household pays about RM1,000 a bill, working from home with the aircon on regularly, but that is one household, not a typical bill.
- Faults and outages go through a 24-hour hotline (1300-88-3111), and short unannounced blips still happen in some neighbourhoods.
Are SESCO and Sarawak Energy the same thing?
Nearly. Syarikat SESCO Berhad is a subsidiary of Sarawak Energy Group. The electricity supply application form is issued by SESCO, and the deposit is paid to SESCO, while the app, portal and hotline you deal with day to day carry the Sarawak Energy name. Sarawak Energy generates power mostly from hydroelectric dams like Bakun, Murum and Batang Ai. For a household in Kuching, the distinction rarely matters: you deal with one utility, and either name will get you to the right place.
How much does electricity cost in Sarawak?
Domestic electricity in Sarawak is billed on Tariff D, where the price per unit (one unit is one kilowatt-hour) rises as your monthly usage climbs into higher bands. Sarawak Energy’s tariff page lists them as:
| Monthly usage | Rate per unit |
|---|---|
| Up to 150 units | 18 sen |
| Up to 200 units | 22 sen |
| Up to 300 units | 25 sen |
| Up to 400 units | 27 sen |
| Up to 500 units | 29.5 sen |
| Up to 700 units | 30 sen |
| Up to 800 units | 30.5 sen |
| Up to 1,300 units | 31 sen |
| Above 1,300 units | 31.5 sen |
There is also a minimum monthly charge of RM5.00. The first band covers lighting, a fridge, a fan, and a TV, and at 18 sen is the cheapest rate on the table. The low starting rate is largely because Sarawak generates much of its power from hydro, a point the Chief Minister has made publicly when describing the state’s low tariffs. The rate climbs in the higher bands, which is where a household running aircon lands.
Check the tariff page rather than trusting a number from a Facebook group, since tariffs get reviewed and adjusted.
How do I check and pay my SESCO bill?
The SEB cares portal and mobile app (Sarawak Energy’s customer app) both let you view your bill and pay online, and the pay-your-bills page lists the other channels. JomPAY is the other common route: Sarawak Energy has said bills can be paid through online banking via JomPAY, so you enter the biller code in your regular Malaysian banking app and avoid a separate login. Counter payment is still possible at Sarawak Energy customer service counters if you’d rather deal with a person.
How do I open or transfer a SESCO account?
To open a new account or transfer an existing one into your name, visit a Sarawak Energy customer service counter with your MyKad, your tenancy agreement, and a deposit. Sarawak Energy’s AC01 application form lists a photocopy of the NRIC plus property proof and does not mention passports, so if you’re a foreigner, ask customer care on 1300-88-3111 what they’ll accept. The deposit depends on the type of property and the meter. A typical household should plan on about RM300 to RM700 as a ballpark, but the official schedule is higher for larger homes. For tenants on a single-phase meter, Sarawak Energy’s collateral deposit page lists RM700 for a terrace house or flat, RM1,100 for a semi-detached house or apartment, RM1,900 for a detached house under two storeys, and RM2,400 for a detached house above two storeys. Owners pay less, and three-phase meters cost more. You can also apply through SEB cares, and Sarawak Energy says to update the account as soon as you rent the premises.
Some rentals in Kuching stay in the landlord’s name for the whole tenancy, with the tenant simply paying the bill each month by arrangement. That’s convenient until it isn’t. If a landlord’s account falls into arrears for reasons that have nothing to do with you, the supply is still in their name and their problem to fix. Ask directly whose name is on the account before you sign a lease.
What does aircon actually add to a Kuching electricity bill?
Aircon is usually the biggest single appliance load in a Kuching home, and it is the thing that moves a bill the most. Two or three units across a family home push usage up through the higher tariff bands, where the rate per unit is higher than in the first band.
For one real reference point, I pay about RM1,000 per electricity bill. I work from home and have the aircon on regularly, so that is a household where the aircon runs through the working day. I can’t tell you how much of that RM1,000 is the aircon alone, and it is one household, not a typical bill. For a lower-usage comparison, crowd-sourced cost-of-living data from Expatistan puts all utilities for two people in an 85 sqm Kuching flat at about RM211 a month. Somewhere between the two sits most households, depending on how many units run and for how long. If you’re building a monthly budget rather than just an electricity forecast, the bill is one line beside rent, food and everything else in a full month.
The fix that works is picking your battles: aircon in the bedroom overnight, fans everywhere else during the day, and a household habit of switching off rather than leaving a unit humming in an empty room. None of that makes the year-round heat and humidity pleasant. It just keeps the bill from climbing.
What do I do if the power goes out?
Report a fault through Sarawak Energy’s 24-hour Customer Care Centre on 1300-88-3111 (also listed on the customer service page), which is the official route for logging it and asking for a restoration time. You can also report a fault through the SEB cares app, and Sarawak Energy posts notices on its media releases page, so that is the place to look for announced works. Unplanned outages are a different story. Sarawak’s average outage time has been reported at roughly 65 to 80 minutes per customer per year (the SAIDI measure, 64.2 minutes as of October 2022 and 77.9 minutes for 2022, per Borneo Post reporting of the state minister’s figures), though that is a state average and your street may do better or worse. If you work from home, a charged power bank and a neighbourhood WhatsApp group are cheap insurance.