Electricity rates should fall by about 5% in 2020, sources in the energy sector estimate. Other sources estimate that the rate could fall by as much as 9%. The rate for next year will be set at the end of the month by the Public Utilities Authority (Electricity), the government authority responsible for setting the price for both household and industrial consumers. After a public hearing the price will probably be published towards the end of December. RELATED ARTICLES Israel Electric set to sign new Tamar gas deal Israel's largest solar energy project inaugurated Israel Electric signs $700m Leviathan gas deal Electricity rates to rise 2.9% next week Last year the Public Utilities Authority (Electricity) announced at the beginning of December that prices were rising by 7-8%. But after public anger, Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon cancelled a new tax on coal and instituted other measures resulting in just a 2.9% rise. No such problems will confront Kahlon this year. The price of coal, the main factor pushing up prices last year, has fallen 40% this year, and this has been accentuated by the strengthening of the shekel. The prices of natural gas, which also provides much of the fuel for the electricity production of the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22), has fallen from $6.3 per thermal unit in the old tender for Tamar gas to $4.8 per thermal unit in the new tender for Leviathan gas. Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 11, 2019 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2019
