Electricity prices to be increased as oil prices exceed cap

AMMAN — The Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC) on Thursday announced that the average price of a crude oil barrel in September, October and November marked an increase to $58.67 per barrel, exceeding the $55 cap set to keep electricity tariffs unchanged.

The increase in oil prices to rates over $55 per barrel requires adjustments to electricity tariffs (monthly power invoices) for December, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported, citing an EMRC statement.

In December 2016, EMRC announced adopting a scenario for electricity tariffs that will see lower rates for major consumers, while it will increase the tariffs “for all sectors” in case the price of a crude oil barrel exceeding the set limit.

EMRC said that its board of commissioner convened on Thursday and reviewed the price difference, before deciding to increase tariffs by JD0.004 for each kilowatt per hour (kph) for all categories of subscribers.

For example, households whose monthly electricity consumption does not exceed 160kph will see a JD0.64 rise on their power bills, compared with a JD1.2 increase for household consumers whose monthly consumption ranges between 161 to 300kph. 

Families that consume 301 to 500kph of electricity in a month will witness a hike of JD2, while those with consumption ranging between 501 and 600kph will pay extra JD2.4. 

A monthly consumption of 601 to 750kph at households will entail a JD3 increase on electricity bills, while those with consumption that exceeds 750kph and is less than 1,000kph will have to pay additional JD4 for their power bills.

The rise was coupled with another involving the main fuels, and a government’s plan to remove bread and other subsidies in return for cash support “for those deserving”.