12:01 p.m
Thursday 06 October 2022
Books – Mohamed Salah:
A state of confusion prevailed in the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, as well as the Electricity Regulatory and Consumer Protection Facility, about the repercussions of the continued rise in the price of the dollar against the pound, which caused a state of uncertainty regarding the pricing plan for selling the produced energy as well as calculating the cost of the kilowatt-hour price.
An official source at the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company revealed that the current confusion is represented in the difficulty of calculating the actual cost of producing kilowatt-hours due to the rise in foreign currency and natural gas prices, which put the ministry in a dilemma over determining the expected increase in selling prices for the various segments in early January.
The source explained to Masrawy that the ministry and its subsidiaries pay the price of gas supplied to the stations, denominated in dollars, and it has monthly loans that are required to be paid in dollars for some projects, most notably Siemens plants and renewable energy projects, in addition to that it imports some tasks and spare parts needed for maintenance. More burdens are expected, if Exchange rates continue to rise.
He added that the electricity prices currently in force were set during 2020, when the dollar reached less than 16 pounds, explaining that dollar prices witnessed a jump of about two pounds at once last March, and continued to rise to record currently about 19.60 pounds.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi had decided to postpone the implementation of the electricity price increase last June, for a period of 6 months, to be implemented in January 2023.
It is noteworthy that the prices of electricity segments for the domestic sector, which were scheduled to be applied last July and were postponed until January 2023, include accounting for the first tranche from zero to 50 kilowatts at (58 piasters instead of 48), and the second from 51 to 100 kilowatts (68 piasters instead of 58), and the third up to 200 kilowatts (83 piasters against 77).
The fourth tranche is charged from 201 to 350 kilowatts (111 piasters instead of 106), and the fifth is from 351 to 650 kilowatts (131 piasters instead of 128).
As for the sixth, even to 1000 kilowatts, it is calculated at 136 piasters instead of 131 per kilowatt-hour, and finally the seventh is more than 1000 kilowatts at the same current levels; It is (145 piasters).