Arab world turmoil prompts 10 per cent hike in electricity prices

CONSUMERS should brace themselves for an up to 10 per cent hike in their electricity bill over the coming months, the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) warned yesterday.

Due to ongoing political turmoil in the Arab world, the price of heavy fuel oil – which drives Cyprus’ power grid – has spiked in recent weeks.

Worries that production could be disrupted amid continuing unrest in Libya have pushed Brent crude up to $115 a barrel.

The EAC said electricity rates would necessarily have to be readjusted to meet new fuel prices.

The last time Cypriot consumers were hit by a similar price increase – again around 10 per cent – was back in 2008.

Speaking at a news conference yesterday, EAC spokesman Costas Gavrielides tried to find the silver lining, saying that the new rates would be implemented but with a three-month delay.

Because the EAC had fuel stocks to last until the summer, the new rates would likely not be introduced until then, he explained.

This will be no consolation to consumers since the next three months will likely not require excessive heating or cooling in homes. In three months time however, the start of heavy use of air conditioners will have already begun.

Eurostat figures show household electricity prices here are already the highest in the EU on average, while last year industrial electricity displayed the largest rate of increase in Europe.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.