Myanmar junta announces higher charges for electricity

Amid a floundering economy and soaring food prices, Myanmar’s military council announced on Friday via regime-controlled newspapers that the rates charged for electricity will increase in September. As listed by the junta-controlled ministry of electric power, the rates before the change were between 35 and 125 kyat (US $0.02 and $0.06) per unit for households and between 125 and 180 kyat (US $0.06 and $0.09) per unit for businesses. The revised rates for households include 50 kyat per unit for the first 50 units and 300 kyat (US $0.14) per unit for 201 or more units. The rates for businesses, industrial facilities, and the offices of embassies, consulates, and international organisations will increase to 250 kyat (US $0.12) per unit for the first 5,000 units, 400 kyat (US $0.19) per unit for 5,001 to 20,000 units, and 500 kyat (US $0.24) per unit for 20,001 units or more. In other words, the new rates represent increases of between 40 and nearly 180 percent. They are in effect as of the beginning of September, with bills scheduled to be issued at the end of the month. In its announcement, the military council cited the rising costs of electricity production to justify the rate hike. A homemaker in her 30s living in Yangon said she had heard about the impending increase in charges. “I will need to pay a bigger bill because of my heavy electricity use,” she said. “However, I will be more cautious about turning off the power and avoid using it excessively. I’ll make sure to switch everything off when I leave home.” “My only key message is that Min Aung Hlaing should step down soon,” she added, referring to the military junta’s chief. The homemaker said that the rising prices for essential commodities have made her more frugal. Her family has a young child, and they have had to dine out less often, she added. One resident of Mandalay—a mother of three in her 40s—said that low-income families in the city were finding it difficult to make ends meet. “Most people are struggling. The prices for basic goods are as volatile as the gold prices, changing from day to day. It’s been a while since I first heard about an increase in electricity bills,” she said. Foreign investments have diminished drastically amid economic woes and political instability in Myanmar. In the electricity production sector specifically, foreign investors have pulled out in some cases due to the risks from ongoing conflict and generally low returns. In July, the Singapore-based AVARGA company withdrew from Myanmar, selling its entire stake in Yangon’s Insein (Ywama) gas-fired power plant at a loss. Last month, the Hong Kong-based firm V-Power and the Singapore-based Sembcorp announced that they were shutting down their gas-fired plants in Mandalay Region’s Myingyan District due to ongoing clashes there between the military and resistance forces. However, Sembcorp announced on August 23 that it planned to continue operating the Myingyan Independent Power Plant in the district since conditions there had stabilised. According to the Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation (YESC), total electricity production decreased by 4,920 megawatts while operations at these firms’ power plants were suspended.

Myanmar junta announces higher charges for electricity

With households and businesses already struggling due to rising prices, the military council announced increases between 40 and 180 percent in the rates per unit of electricity supplied

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