Better late than never for Tenaga Nasional

AT last, Malaysia's national utility Tenaga Nasional is showing some grit after it was arm twisted and endured much pain from sweetheart contracts dished out to well-connected firms in the heyday of privatising the power sector.

Never mind that it comes some 20 years too late, long after it made hefty payouts (to the detriment of its own bottom line) to buy power generated by, among others, YTL Power, Genting Group and Tanjong - the country's pioneer independent power producers (IPPs).

Early this month, Tenaga, listed on Bursa Malaysia with a market value of over RM80 billion (S$26.6 billion) and majority owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, made a strikingly unusual move for a government-linked company (GLC). It pit itself against industry regulators - the energy minister and the Energy Commission - and is seeking a judicial review to challenge their directives in relation to a yet-to-be-signed power purchase agreement with YTL.