Egyptian Government Announces Partial Resolution to Electricity Meter Crisis Affecting Millions

The Egyptian government announced a partial breakthrough in the ongoing crisis surrounding informal electricity meters, which affect approximately 10 million residential units and recently sparked controversy due to doubled pricing on their consumption.

Minister of Electricity Mahmoud Esmat stated on Wednesday that the ministry has commenced the process of converting more than 1.1 million informal meters into legal meters after their owners settled their statuses.

This initiative is part of the state's plan to regulate the electricity system and formalize the status of informal meters. The goal is to ensure fairness in consumption billing and guarantee that citizens receive electricity services legally and transparently.

The minister highlighted that the new procedures aim to simplify transactions and encourage citizens to promptly regularize their meter statuses. This effort is intended to resolve the longstanding informal meter issue and improve the efficiency of electricity network management.

The informal meter crisis escalated recently following government decisions on how electricity consumption is priced. A fixed rate of 2.74 Egyptian pounds per kilowatt was set regardless of consumption volume, differing from the tiered pricing system previously in place, which started at 0.68 pounds per kilowatt.