The Egyptian government will announce within a few days the new electricity prices to be implemented starting from next fiscal year (FY) after being approved by the Egyptian Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency (EgyptERA) and approved by the cabinet. Sources from the ministry of electricity told Daily News Egypt the tariff for ultra-high-voltage (UHV) consumers will be EGP 0.75 per kW/h, EGP 0.79 per kW/h for high-voltage, EGP 0.95 per kW/h for medium-voltage, and EGP 1.14 per kW/h for (LV) low-voltage. The tariff for the current FY was EGP 0.99 per kW/h for UHV consumers, EGP 1.6 per kW/h for high-voltage, EGP 1.13 per kW/h for medium-voltage, and EGP 0.71 per kW/h for low-voltage. LV consumers use medium, high, and ultra-high-voltage networks so its tariff is higher. According to the sources, the UHV voltage gets fed directly from the grid, while high-voltage passes through two grids: the medium-voltage which includes production costs and tariff on using two grids, while the low voltage costs include production and transmission through all grids. According to the sources, the tariff reduction of ultra-high, high, and medium voltage in FY 2019/20 is because consumers pay for production and transmission. In FY 2018/19, consumers of these voltages are given higher tariffs to subsidise consumers of low voltage. The sources added: “We do not want to charge ultra-high, high, and medium voltage consumers additional burdens affecting their competitiveness and the cost of the final product to citizens, a system which is followed by many countries in Europe.” The new tariff was based on the dollar exchange rate between EGP 17.5-17.78 and a natural gas price of $3 per million thermal units, and in the event of a decline in the dollar rate, prices will be revised. The sources said that there is a fluctuation in the US dollar price, so it cannot be fixed and if it remains low, the tariff will be changed. The sources pointed out that the rates of increase in domestic consumption segments vary according to the volume of consumption. The increase in the value of the electricity bill starts from EGP 6-10 to EGP 160-200 depending on consumption. Consumers of over 1,000 kW/h will pay more to subsidise low-income citizens.
