Jordan to increase price of electricity by 7 percent

AMMAN, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Jordan will increase price of electricity for all sectors, including industrial and households, as of April 1, the government said Saturday.

Price of kilowatt hour will be increased from 0.014 dinars to 0.015 dinars on all sectors as of April 1 until the end of the month, Farouq Hiari, Chief Commissioner of the state-owned Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission, told Xinhua over the phone on Saturday.

The average price of a crude oil barrel in March, February and January rose to 66.78 U.S. dollars per barrel, exceeding a 55 U.S. dollars cap set by the government of Jordan to keep electricity tariffs unchanged.

Electricity prices are announced at the end of each month and are based on the average of crude oil over the previous three months, according to Hiari.

The increase will affect all economic sectors including the industrial and households.

But households that consume 300 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and less will not witness any increase in their bills, according to the official.

Jordan, which imports 96 percent of its energy needs annually, is working on several energy projects to increase reliance on renewable energy, oil shale and renewable energy to reduce costs of electricity and meet rising demands. Enditem