New era in electricity bills: Government support is now indicated

A new era regarding electricity bills has begun. As of April, SMS messages were sent to electricity subscribers. Users received notification messages regarding the monthly cost of the electricity they consumed, along with the amount subsidized by the state. Additionally, the amount of state support was explicitly stated on the bills.

MESSAGES SENT

One of the sample messages received included the note: "The consumption cost for the relevant period for your electricity subscription no. ... with a due date of 17-04-2025 is 807.36 TL, and the bill amount to be paid after the 437.36 TL state support is 370.00 TL."

So, what is the reason for separately indicating state support on electricity bills? Will the new practice also be applied to natural gas bills? Will there be price hikes for electricity and natural gas in the future? Regarding the issue, Altuğ Karataş, a Board Member of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD), told milliyet.com.tr: Turkey is the second cheapest country in Europe for electricity in terms of paid electricity bills. This has a cost to the budget. In the new system, if 1,000 TL is paid on a bill, and 400 TL of it is covered by the state, this will be directly indicated.

HOW MUCH OF THE BILLS DOES THE STATE COVER?

Citizens sometimes heard about whether there was state support on electricity bills through statements from Ministry officials. In Turkey, 40-50 percent of electricity and natural gas bills are subsidized.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE PRACTICE?

A subsidy is applied to all electricity consumption for residential users below the limit of 5,000 kilowatt-hours per year, and for all natural gas consumption.

So what does the practice mean? We experts are of the opinion that when electricity and natural gas are cheap, behavior regarding energy efficiency is not sufficient. Something that is not expensive is not saved upon.

Perhaps by doing this work, it is intended to show that you actually spent 1,000 TL on electricity, and the fact that 600 TL was reflected on your bill does not mean you only spent 600 TL on electricity. It may have been thought that an energy saving or behavioral change action could be taken, and an awareness could be created regarding this.

I think it is beneficial for the application that the citizen knows the extent of the burden on the Treasury in terms of energy saving. In reality, electricity and natural gas consumption are not that cheap.

WILL IT ALSO BE APPLIED TO NATURAL GAS BILLS?

In addition to electricity, subsidies are also provided for natural gas. Individual citizens receive state support of around 50 percent on their bills. There is no such support for industrialists. If natural gas prices rise, this is immediately reflected to industrialists. I think this should also be done for natural gas.