Households Pay 51 Pct More Than Industry For Electricity

The price of electricity per kilowatt hour (kWh) for household consumers is 51 percent more expensive than the price for business consumers, a report by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) revealed on Wednesday.

According to TurkStat's “Electricity and Natural Gas Prices” report for the first half of this year, household consumers paid on average TL 0.354 per kWh for electricity, whereas business consumers paid on average TL 0.234.

The household consumption which is below 1,000 kWh and is categorized under the smallest consumption band by the institute paid on average TL 0.354 per kWh for electricity, while TL 0.353 was paid on average for the largest consumption band, which is 15,000 kWh and above. The average of all consumption bands of households made up 0.354 TL per kWh.

In contrast, business consumers paid on average TL 0.234 per kWh for electricity over the January-June period. The average payment made by business consumers categorized as falling within the smallest consumption band has been TL 0.272 per kWh, whereas those business consumers in the largest band paid TL 0.215 per kWh on average for their electricity consumption.

In natural gas prices, however, the difference between the two categories of consumers is lower than in electricity. According to the same report, household consumers paid on average TL 1.042 per cubic meter for natural gas, while business consumers paid on average TL 0.895 per cubic meter during the same period. The price of gas for households is 16 percent more expensive than for businesses.

The statistics for the average unit price of electricity and natural gas is calculated and shared with the public in the context of Turkey's European Union accession process.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)