TIRANA, October 27 – From November 1, the price of electricity will increase for all those families that consume more than 800 kWh. Although Prime Minister Edi Rama suspended the 800 kWh limit for the month of October its implementation will begin next week. Rama prayed to God several times for rain, but apparently He did not listen and now the citizens will suffer the consequences.
Thus, the Energy Regulatory Entity (ERE) decided in its announced meeting on Thursday that the limit will be reactivated for the coming month. There are 71,000 families that exceed the threshold of 800 kWh per month and they will pay for energy at 42 kilowatts/hour from the current 9.5 lek. The increase in the price of energy affects all those families that currently pay over 9,200 ALL per month.
The chairman of ERE, Petrit Ahmeti said that the application of the bandage is a measure to cope with the energy crisis. The meeting was characterized by debates, as the deputy of the Democratic Party (DP), Jorida Tabaku, said that we have a 5-fold increase in the energy price and it is not normal at all.
“My request to revoke the decision to create an 800 kWh limit for over 100,000 families, which will increase the price by 5 times for Albanian families, is not just a partisanship and populist request. My request is based on data, in the reality that is being followed today, from the gas trading and energy price figures on the Hungarian stock exchange. So it is a logical request that should definitely be considered by ERE, which serves the citizens and the public interest,” said Tabaku.
Rama also spoke of this change of the price scheme but he played with words saying that it was not a price rise but an ‘educational measure’ to teach Albanians to save energy!
It remains to be seen how such a bitter lesson taught by Rama will influence the cost of living of the ordinary citizens and their reaction. /Argumentum.al
