CYPRUS: Low capacity power for poor families, bills down 7%

The state-owned Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) plans to provide low-income and struggling families with lower-capacity supply to help households manage their outstanding bills better, with the total owed estimated at €16 mln.

EAC boss Stelios Stylianou told members of parliament earlier this week that households facing difficulties paying off their debt to the Authority could apply for reduced electricity power supply, which will be enough to cover their daily needs.
“This way consumption is reduced and electricity supply remains uninterrupted”, he said, adding that the plan still needs approval from the Energy Regulator, CERA.
A similar plan has also been suggested for consumers who have medical problems and need electricity at home.
The EAC has come under severe criticism over the attitude and public responses of many senior officials who have failed to realise that the economic crisis and the high costs have become a major burden on many household, especially with national unemployment levels at a record 17%.
Furthermore, consumers and civic associations also criticise the EAC for not reducing its retail cost in tandem with the 40% drop in crude oil prices in the past six months.
As a result, the Authority announced last week that electricity bills at the end of January will appear to be 6.9% cheaper than the previous two-month billing, with the total reduction estimated at 15% over the past six months.
Senior EAC officials added that cost-cutting efforts continue and that a further 110 staff are expected to opt for a voluntary redundancy programme over the next two months.
The Authority is also one of the key state-owned public services that are slated for privatisation in the government’s road-map by 2018, aiming to reduce operation costs and wages and raise some €1.8 bln in the sale of state assets, in accordance with the €10 bln bailout and economic adjustment programme agreed with the Troika of international investors (ECB, EU, IMF).