Turks usher in 2016 with hike in electricity prices
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Effective as of Friday, the hike will cover the costs of new infrastructural investments that will be made by power distribution companies during the year, according to the media.
“Distribution companies are responsible for [any malfunction] at grid circuits and electricity meters installed at doorsteps. … The EPDK will ensure the extra burden will be returned to consumers as [more quality] service,” reports cited energy officials as saying.
The latest hike came at a time when flaws in recently privatized national electricity network came under the spotlight. According to data from the Federation of Consumer Unions (TBF), planned power cuts made by the 21 distribution companies across Turkey totaled 72,250 hours in November alone. The number of hours in unplanned outages, however, is unknown.
The government privatized companies that supply electricity to the national grid in Turkey in September 2013 in a bid to reduce unit electricity prices as well as ensure energy security. But flaws in distribution have been common since then.
“They do not invest. There is neither maintenance nor inspection. Public institutions should immediately launch strict inspections. But power companies have been complaining all the time recently,” Hüseyin Yeşil, the president of the Chamber of Electrical Engineers (EMO), earlier told Today’s Zaman.
Electricity theft here to stay
A recent alteration that was made in energy market codes, however, will seemingly ensure the persistence of illegal electricity use across the country.
According to an amendment that entered into force on the last day of 2015, distribution companies that sustained more illegal electricity consumption than the national average in 2014 will be regarded as a “large-loss company” until 2025.
Commenting on the new regulation, EMO head Yeşil said: “This change says ‘well done’ to those companies with high illegal electricity records and creates new options for them.”
Abdullah Tivnikli, a businessman known for his close ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said early this year he wants to exit his partnership with the Dicle Electricity Distribution (DEDAŞ) in order to avoid further losses due to the illegal use of electricity in the area the company operates in. “I have to leave this partnership, or we will be forced to have blackouts in the region to compensate for our losses,” Tivnikli said back then
