Yourelectricity bill just went up: The Electricity Ministry is finally out with its long-expected electricity price hikes for households and businesses that will see prices rise by 16-26%. The new price ranges came into effect on Monday and will be in place until June 2024, according to an Electricity Ministry official that spoke to Enterprise.

The new price tags per KWh for households:

  • The first 0-50 KWh/month will be charged EGP 0.58, up 20.8% from EGP 0.48;
  • The next 51-100 KWh/month at EGP 0.68, up 17.2% from EGP 0.58;
  • The next 101-200 KWh/month at EGP 0.83, up 7.8% from EGP 0.77;
  • The next 201-350 KWh/month at EGP 1.25, up 17.9% from EGP 1.06;
  • The next 351-650 KWh/month at EGP 1.4, up 9.4% from EGP 1.28;
  • Those consuming more that 1,000 KWh per month will pay EGP 1.65, up 13.8% from EGP 1.45.

**You can find the full price list for commercial and industrial buyers here.

The hikes were originally due in July 2023, but the Madbouly government decided to freezeelectricity prices last year to ease the pressure on the public, as directed by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. Our source told us that the state had to cough off about EGP 8 bn to be able to push back electricity price hikes. The last approved hike was in June 2021, which saw residential electricity bills jumping as much as 26%.

Electricity subsidies are on the way out: The Madbouly government in 2020 laid out a roadmap to phase out subsidies by 2025 — pushing back an existing July 2022 deadline that was already an extension of a 2019 deadline penciled in way back in 2014.

The hike comes hot on the heels of a series of price hikes for several public and private services and utilities announced earlier this week after the state greenlit the price rises. Mobile phone plans, internet packages, Cairo Metro and train tickets, and vehicle registration fees all increased in the New Year.

NO PETROL PRICE HIKES?

Worry not petrol heads, we aren’t expecting any fuel price hikes anytime soon: The government apparently has no intentions of reviewing fuel prices for 3Q of the fiscal year since the last price move was passed less than three months ago, a government official involved in the petroleum industry told Enterprise.

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