NEW ELECTRICITY TARIFFS SHOULD BENEFIT MOST CONSUMERS

From Cyprus Mail - article by Elias Hazou 2 August 2017

State-run power company EAC on Wednesday announced that its new tariffs, which it says are expected to benefit most categories of electricity consumers, will be coming into effect as of September 1.

The utility has restructured its tariffs, cutting the number of different rates charged from 30 to 11.
The new tariffs are: three for domestic customers (including one for vulnerable social groups); one for small commercial customers; one for small industrial customers; one for small commercial/industrial customers (STOD low voltage); one for large commercial/industrial customers (STOD medium voltage); one for very large commercial/industrial customers (STOD high voltage); one for street lighting; one for water pumping; and one for storage heaters.

STOD stands for ‘Seasonal Time Οf Day’, a tariff where the price of electricity charged depends on the season and the time of day that electricity is consumed.

Adjustments to consumers’ electricity bills, arising from fluctuations in the price of fuel during each billing period, will continue to apply.

Based on the new tariff methodology, EAC said, most customer categories will benefit from an average reduction of about four per cent.  There are certain categories, however, such as storage heaters, water pumping, street lighting and large industrial customers, for which the new cost-orientation methodology would have led to increases.

In November 2016, EAC held a public consultation on the issue, with customers submitting comments and suggestions.  In response, and in order to give time to all consumers affected by the above increases to adapt to the new state of affairs, EAC will be covering the cost of the resulting increases, until the operation of the new electricity market or for the next four years, whichever comes first.

The new tariffs have been posted on EAC’s website (coming soon in English).  Monthly bills featuring the new tariffs will be issued from October 1, and bi-monthly bills from November 1.
 The EAC will be holding a press conference on August 29 to explain the new tariffs in more detail.
According to the energy regulator’s tariff methodology, EAC is obliged to review the structure of its tariffs every five years. Regarding the charge element of the tariffs, this will be reviewed every year on the basis of the EAC’s revenues, subject to the energy regulator’s approval.