(AFP Photo)
Public campaigns that aim to spread awareness among Egyptians to ration the use of electricity will start in May, the Ministry of Energy and Electricity announced in an official statement Monday.
“The ministry will be targeting citizens through various campaigns and different media outlets,” said the ministry’s official spokesman Aktham Abou El-Ela, adding that campaigns will take place on television, the press and on the street.
The ministry stated that the campaign is now being studied, in collaboration with the petroleum sector and the private sector companies. The ministry is aiming to ration electric power consumption by 20% during “the coming period”.
“This is our goal during 2014,” Abou El-Ela said.
Minister of Energy and Electricity Mohamed Shaker met with the Minister of Environmental Affairs Leila Iskander to discuss the actions that need to be taken in rationing electricity consumption.
On 9 March, Shaker announced that the prices of electricity have not witnessed any increases since January 2013. The minister pointed out that the parliament must approve any increase in electricity traffic.
He added that the government is aware of the variety in the country’s economic classes and will keep in mind the poorer classes when considering price increases.
In February, the shortage in fuel supply forced the government to reduce the loads on power grids, which led to electricity blackouts throughout the month.
Egypt has allocated EGP 23bn for electricity subsidies in the current fiscal year, former Minster of Electricity Ahmed Imam announced during the Future and Investment Opportunities in New and Renewable Energy Conference, a two-day event that was held in February.
During the conference, Imam announced that Egypt aims to produce 20% of its energy using new and renewable sources by 2020.
