Emit Solar | Home Solar Panels | Easy Ownership
GET – the Green Electricity Tariff – is an energy product from TNB. It lets you buy certified green energy from solar farms, hydro dams, and other renewable plants, without installing anything on your roof. With the AFA fuel surcharge swinging from last year’s rebate to a charge heading toward 8sen per kWh, more homeowners are asking about it. Here’s what GET really is, and whether it’s worth paying for.
For example, these recent historical AFA rates show how it can move from rebate to surcharge:
Quick read – 30 seconds
- GET is TNB’s “virtual green energy” – you pay extra to claim the renewable portion of the grid (solar farms, hydro dams) as yours, on paper.
- The big draw right now: GET customers are exempt from AFA – the fuel surcharge heading toward 8sen/kWh.
- GET is a bundled REC (as low as 3sen/kWh from TNB). Standalone unbundled RECs (~1sen/kWh) don’t get the AFA waiver.
- But you don’t need GET to escape AFA: Keep your TNB import below 600kWh a month and you’re automatically exempt.
The simplest way to stay under 600kWh? Go solar – cover your daytime usage, earn export credits, buy less from TNB.
GET IN ONE SENTENCE
GET lets you pay TNB to supply you with green energy as your electricity source – virtually.
The “green energy” behind GET doesn’t only come from large-scale solar farms. It also comes from hydro dams and other renewable plants approved by the government – all feeding the same grid you’re connected to.
Wait – virtually?
Here’s the thing about electricity: once it enters the grid, it all mixes together. The power from a solar farm and the power from a coal plant are identical by the time they reach your home. What you actually consume is a “rojak” of every energy source feeding the grid.
Say the grid has 5MWh of electricity – 1MWh from a solar farm, 4MWh from a coal plant. TNB takes that 1MWh of green energy and sells it as “virtual green energy” to customers who sign up for GET. Those customers are buying the solar portion of the grid on paper.
In reality, the electrons flowing into their homes may still come partly from coal. But GET lets them officially claim their electricity is green.
Yes, it sounds a bit strange. But this is standard practice around the world – it’s how green energy purchasing works almost everywhere.
One more thing: GET isn’t unlimited. There’s a cap based on how much green energy the government has approved.
So why do people buy GET?
- No AFA charges – the big one right now. GET customers are exempt from the AFA (Automatic Fuel Adjustment) charge. Last year AFA was a rebate on your bill; in the coming months it’s set to become a surcharge of up to 8sen per kWh. That swing is exactly why GET is getting attention.
- Green credentials. Buying GET lets you officially claim that your company using renewable energy. For companies that need to report on sustainability, this matters – it counts toward their carbon offset claims.
- Future-proofing against carbon tax. When Malaysia eventually implements a carbon tax, buying certified green energy may help companies reduce their exposure.
In short: GET is like “virtually” installing solar on your roof – except you’re paying TNB to do it for you.
Why GET allows you to avoid AFA
Malaysia relies heavily on imported coal and natural gas to run its power plants. Because the cost of these fuels changes with global prices and currency movements, the cost of producing electricity also changes over time.
That’s where AFA comes in.
AFA adjusts your monthly TNB bill up or down to reflect changes in fuel and generation costs. When costs are lower, you get an AFA rebate. When costs go up, you will see an AFA surcharge.
For example, these recent historical AFA rates show how it can move from rebate to surcharge:
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Feb-26
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-2.77/kWh
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Mar-26
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-2.15/kWh
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Apr-26
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-0.47/kWh
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May-26
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1.38/kWh
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Jun-26
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2.59/kWh
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GET customers are exempt from AFA because their subscribed electricity is matched with certified renewable energy, instead of being treated like normal grid electricity exposed to coal and gas fuel-cost movements.
But there is a catch.
GET is a committed subscription, usually for a minimum period. If you terminate early, penalties may apply. So if AFA later swings back in your favour as a rebate, you may still be locked in – and the financial benefit could shrink or disappear.
Is GET the same as a REC?
Not quite, though they’re related. A REC (Renewable Energy Certificate) represents the carbon offset from renewable generation. RECs can be bought and sold – companies buy them to claim they’ve offset their carbon footprint.
When you buy GET, you also receive the RECs that come with it. The difference:
GET – Bundled REC
You’re buying certified green electricity and using it immediately. Electricity + green claim, together.
Standalone REC – Unbundled
You’re not actually buying the green electricity. You are buying the green benefits purely to offset emissions.
Can I just buy RECs and skip the AFA charge?
No. The AFA waiver only applies to GET (bundled), not standalone RECs (unbundled). That’s a key reason unbundled RECs in Malaysia trade at a much lower value – roughly 1sen per kWh, versus the 3sen per kWh TNB charges for bundled GET.
"But I have solar and export green energy – why don't I get the AFA waiver?"
Fair question, and yes, it can feel unfair. Here’s what’s actually happening:
Under Solar ATAP, your excess solar is exported to the grid and credited back to your bill. Physically, that electricity is used by the grid immediately – likely by a nearby home. TNB doesn’t resell your exported solar as certified green energy.
Your solar usage and exports do genuinely lower TNB’s carbon emissions and the fuel they burn to generate electricity. And TNB does charge AFA to whoever ends up buying the electricity you exported – but when you dig into how AFA is calculated, TNB likely isn’t profiting from your green electricity.
GOOD TO KNOW
Under current policy, the green attributes of your solar belong to you, the homeowner. You can sell your RECs to another party – that’s exactly what our Green Rewards Programme does. The buyer of those RECs, however, can claim they have reduced their carbon footprint, but can’t claim the AFA waiver.
Will AFA keep going up?
Nobody knows for sure, but here’s our honest take: with energy demand rising and geopolitics staying messy, we think AFA charges are here to stay. Already headed for 8sen per kWh – how much higher? Hard to say. But as a rule of thumb, many countries charge households roughly double what Malaysia does. That tells you the direction of travel.
And one thing to remember – if you have subscribed to GET and global energy prices ever crash, you won’t get AFA rebates either. You can’t win both ways with the government.
So what should a homeowner actually do?
Here’s the good news: you don’t need GET to escape AFA. There’s a simpler path.
THE TAKEAWAY
Keep your TNB import below 600kWh a month – and you’re automatically AFA-exempt.
How? Go solar:
- Get a system sized to cover your daytime usage. Right-sized, not oversized – matched to how your home actually consumes.
- Earn credits for the electricity you export. Every kWh you send back offsets what you buy from TNB.
- Shift a little usage into the day. Run the washing machine, charge the EV, heat the water while the sun is up – so you buy less from TNB.
Do that, and you protect yourself from AFA without paying for GET.
Solar saves you money today. It also shields your wallet from whatever crazy things happen in the world tomorrow.
Thinking about going solar? Talk to us.
We’ll help you figure out the right system size for your home.
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