ELECTRICITY BILLS SET TO RISE BY 12% IN 2017

From inCyprus - Local business news 8/12/2016

Members of the public must prepare for an 11.8% hike in their electricity bills as of next year, the 2017 budget for the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) has revealed.

The Budget has already been approved by the cabinet and is now awaiting the green light from MPs to get the go-ahead.

The 11.8% rise in the amount consumers are charged per kilowatt hour will see the figure rising to 14.874 cents per kilowatt hour from the current 13.133 cents per kilowatt hour, according to next year’s budget.

Coupled with an anticipated 2.5% rise in consumption, the price rise is expected to increase the EAC’s income from electricity sales by 14%.

When it comes to demand, the EAC expects to sell 4.186 million kilowatt hours of electricity, bringing in €549.75million by the end of this year, rising by 2.5% to 4.294m kilowatt hours of electricity next year and, in line with the price increase, bringing in revenue of €638.71m.

The EAC’s total income for 2016, forecast to reach €780,962,000, remains higher than the projected figure for 2017 – set at a more modest €681,999,000.

Apart from the sale of electricity, projected income included in the 2017 budget also comes from the sale of water produced by the islands desalination units (€17,830,000) and the greenhouse gas fees (€8m) paid to the EAC.

The EAC’s most significant expense for the coming year, meanwhile, is listed as employee salaries (€99,936,000) although 14 types of subsidies usually awarded to EAC employees will not be paid out as of 2017.

Operational costs are expected to reach to €442,684,000 and mostly concern the purchase of fuel.

Amongst other outgoings, the EAC also expects to pay another €32m towards its loan to the European Investment Bank and the Council of Europe’s Development Bank.

Some €2.8m, up from €1.1min 2016, meanwhile, will go toward renewing the EAC’s fleet of vehicles.