Consumers who believe their electricity bill is inexcusably high due to possible meter reading deviations can submit a complaint to be reviewed by onsite inspectors or remote investigation at the Electricity Authority of Cyprus.
The EAC issued an announcement after reports of consumers complaining about exorbitant bills due mainly to the increase in the cost of the basic diesel fuel used for power generation in the absence of cheaper natural gas.
The latest bill is expected to be higher by 20-24%.
Local media referred to one case whose bimonthly household bill rose from €200 to €420 and then to €920 for the May-July period.
A café owner in Nicosia told the Financial Mirror he saw his bill double to nearly €5,000 from the previous bimonthly period, while a housewife said her bill doubled to €701, despite family efforts to save energy, especially as Cyprus did not see as many hot days and heatwaves as last year.
EAC officials have admitted to errors in the calculation and projection of consumption of the new MDMS platform, estimated in kilowatt-hours (kWh), and consumers can call 80006000.
“If you have observed a considerable difference between the consumption recorded on your meter and that shown on your electricity bill and believe the latter is due to an error, you should send the meter reading to EAC,” the state-owned utility said in an announcement.
Consumers can send a message via e-mail:
With the customer’s full name and contact telephone number,
The meter reading, without the 10-digit number at the end and the meter number;
Send a photo via Viber:
With a photo of the meter showing the reading and the meter number,
Customer’s full name and mobile phone number in the ‘Add Description’ field; and
Send a photo via Whatsapp:
With a photo of the meter showing the reading and the meter number,
Customer’s full name and mobile phone number in the ‘Add a Caption’ field.
EAC contact information according to the district (these numbers do not accept incoming calls):
| DISTRICT | COMMUNICATION VIA VIBER OR WHATSAPP | COMMUNICATION VIA EMAIL |
| NICOSIA | 99608754 | [email protected] |
| LIMASSOL | 99668321 | [email protected] |
| LARNACA | 99681190 | [email protected] |
| PAPHOS | 99205394 | [email protected] |
| FAMAGUSTA | 99681190 | [email protected] |
Energy poverty
The spectre of energy poverty looms large for many Cypriot families, as economists estimate that one in four households are at risk, even the traditionally safe middle class.
With electricity bills inflated every couple of months and fuel prices hitting an all-time high, many families are in trouble, trying to keep tabs on every last euro.
Electricity prices in Cyprus have never been higher.
Households have to pay at the end of this month a staggering 28.86 c€/kWh, the highest it has ever been, an increase of 111% from July 2021 (13.67 c€/kWh) and an increase of 190% from July 2020 (9.94 c€/kWh).
In earlier comments to the Financial Mirror, economist and advisor to presidential candidate Andreas Mavroyiannis, Panos Loizou Parras said a quarter of households could fall into energy poverty.
Parras argued that although there is an absence of official data on energy poverty in Cyprus, European statistics indicate how dire the situation is.
“According to Eurostat data, one in five people in Cyprus said they could not keep their home adequately warm in 2020.
“In the survey, Cyprus ranked third to last as 21% of residents said they could not afford to heat their homes.”
He said that with fuel prices and electricity shooting through the roof, “there is no way these people could keep their heads above the energy poverty line”.
Eurostat said 21% or 180,000 households could not afford to pay for heating, while the EU average was 8%.
Electricity bills sent out for July and August will be about 24% more expensive than the last one.
