Electricity tariffs go up in Armenia despite protests
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
Electricity tariffs will likely go up in Armenia following long debates and suppositions. The Electric Networks of Armenia officially confirmed the reports on price hike.
The company, on May 8, announced its appeal to the Public Services Regulatory Commission to increase prices.
The Electric Networks of Armenia offers to up electricity tariffs to $0.12 per kilowatt of power consumption in daytime from the recent $0.8. The price for night consumption is proposed to be set at $0.1 against the current $0.06 level.
As a result, electricity tariffs will rise by 40 percent in total.
Meanwhile, PSRC issued a statement saying that five great power stations in Armenia submitted their own applications in view of the tariff increase.
"Applications pursued the regulations set by the commission and it has started to investigate the documents," the commission said.
Opposition Prosperous Armenia party stood against the raise in electricity tariffs. Mikael Melkumyan from the party urged to drastically change the calculation of prices. "Consumers now have more burdens on their shoulders than that of the companies," he said.
Armenian government’s decision to raise electricity prices by 10 percent in July last year was greeted by public protests and a storm of criticism from opposition politicians.
The PSRC and the government have said then the hike was needed to avoid bankrupting the national power company, the Electric Networks of Armenia.
Criticizing the government's move, former Yerevan mayor Vahagn Khachatryan said the problem went beyond the ENA's financial woes and was indicative of a countrywide management crisis.
"The system in Armenia has exhausted itself. It is inefficient and uncompetitive. It benefits whoever can steal the most and whoever can force people to pay for the financial and economic problems of a company. This perverse system, which is constantly expanding and reproducing itself, is having an even more negative impact on people’s quality of life," he stated.
- - -
Follow Mushvig Mehdiyev on Twitter: @Mushviggo
Follow us on Twitter: @Azernews
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!