CAIRO: Egypt's Ministry of Electricity and Energy announced increases in electricity prices for domestic, commercial, agricultural and services consumption to be applied in November for the October bills. The increase in some segments exceeded 18 percent while the prices of the first segment of domestic consumption - less than 50 kilowatt (KW) per month, mainly composed of low-income families - remained unchanged at 5 piasters per KW. The increase is part of the government's plan to raise prices by 5 percent annually for five years. This year, the increase was 7.5 percent, with an additional 2.5 percent [increase] due to higher oil prices, Aksam Abu El-Ela, spokesperson for the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, told Daily News Egypt. One kilowatt of electricity costs more than 19 piasters so we spend more than LE 3.2 billion [in subsidies] to support primary categories who can t afford it, Abu El-Ela added. From 1992 to 2004 there were no hikes in energy prices, he said, especially in electricity. This is the last of the five annual increases. None of the products or goods in Egypt increased by only 25 percent in the last five years, he pointed out. The new increases were sent Monday to commercial administrations in distribution companies to start implementing them on the October consumption bills. The second category (51-200 KW) increased from 10.7 to 11 piasters; the third category (201-350 KW) increased from 14.9 to 16 piasters; the fourth (351-650 KW) increased from 21.6 to 24 piasters; the fifth (651- 1000 KW) increased from 31.1 to 39 piasters; and the category exceeding more than 1000 KW increased from 38 to 48 piasters. For commercial use, the first category (less than 100 KW) went up from 22.9 to 24 piasters per KW; the second segment (101-250 KW) from 23.5 to 36 piasters; the third segment (251-600 KW) from 42.5 to 46 piasters; the fourth segment (601-1000 KW) from 52.5 to 58 piasters; and those who consume more than 100 KW will pay 60 piasters instead of 55. The services category, which includes restaurants and bakeries, now has to pay 25 piasters, up from 23.1 per KW; agricultural category prices increased from 10.4 to 11.2 piasters while housing company prices remained unchanged at 13.9 piasters per KW. Prices of energy consumption on high and medium loads increased from LE 9 to LE 9.5 as a monthly installment. Egypt produced 115,407 gegawatts of electricity in 2006/2007, an increase of 6.2 percent; also the maximum load increased to 18,500 megawatts. The number of subscribers who receive electricity reached 22.6 million in 2006/2007, 70.3 percent of which are domestic consumers.
