The KRG’s ambitious Ronaki Project, designed to deliver uninterrupted electricity to a region long plagued by power shortages, has sparked widespread controversy as residents face monthly bills that frequently exceed average incomes. The initiative, launched in mid-2024 across select Erbil neighborhoods, reveals a troubling gap between policy ambitions and economic realities.

Under the new pricing structure, consumers pay 156 dinars per kilowatt-hour—a staggering 750% increase from the 18 dinars charged in areas still operating under the traditional electricity system. While the latter receive less than 10 hours of public electricity daily and must rely on costly private generators to bridge the gap, the price differential has nonetheless shocked participating households.

The Ronaki Project caps each household’s capacity at 20 amps. If fully utilized, this allocation results in a monthly bill of 444,787 dinars—a sharp contrast to the modest costs borne by areas reliant on the traditional grid. The KRG has set an ambitious goal to expand this 24-hour power supply, currently being trialed in select Erbil districts, across the entire Kurdistan Region within two years.

Estimated Monthly Electricity Costs by Usage Level:

• 1 amp: 22,239 dinars (142.56 kWh × 156)
• 2 amps: 44,479 dinars (285.12 kWh × 156)
• 3 amps: 66,718 dinars (427.68 kWh × 156)
• 5 amps: 111,197 dinars (712.8 kWh × 156)
• 10 amps: 222,394 dinars (1,425.6 kWh × 156)
• 15 amps: 333,590 dinars (2,138.4 kWh × 156)
• 20 amps: 444,787 dinars (2,851.2 kWh × 156)

Recent TV reports reveal that nearly all households in the pilot neighborhoods face monthly bills averaging over 250,000 dinars, with many exceeding 350,000 dinars. Residents complain that even after cutting back on usage, their costs remain exorbitant. Some allege that the pricing has been incrementally raised without notice, fueling perceptions of inequity.

For perspective, recent data from the Kurdistan Statistics Office places Erbil’s average monthly wage at 236,800 dinars. This means many households now allocate an entire monthly income solely to electricity expenses—an unsustainable financial burden by any standard.

A family in a modest 100-square-meter home reported their bill surging from 47,301 dinars to 184,500 dinars, compelling them to pool resources from multiple family members just to avoid disconnection. “The first month they sent us a bill of 225,000 to 250,000 dinars, the next month it was 305,000 dinars,” recounts Asmar Sharif, a homemaker. “We said we couldn’t pay. The first time they left without saying anything, but the next time they came back and threatened to cut our power. Three of us had to pool money to cover it.”

A statistical Analysis

The true extent of the crisis becomes evident when examining electricity costs as a proportion of income—the key metric for assessing affordability. Despite claims that Kurdistan’s electricity pricing now mirrors European standards, a comparative analysis reveals a profound affordability gap.

In Erbil, assuming a conservative usage of 10 amps (approximately 1,584 kWh monthly), the average wage-to-electricity bill ratio stands at just 0.96—meaning a single earner’s monthly income barely covers the electricity bill. By contrast, in Europe’s most expensive electricity markets, the ratio ranges from 14.4 to 31.3, indicating European households allocate a substantially smaller proportion of income to power costs.

This stark disparity undermines arguments that simply compare absolute prices. While a kilowatt-hour in Kurdistan (at $0.105) costs less than in Germany (at $0.42), the critical factor remains affordability relative to local earning power.

The economic ramifications extend beyond household budgets. With average monthly expenditure in Erbil at 329,000 dinars and electricity now consuming a disproportionate share, discretionary spending will inevitably contract.

The KRG plans to expand the Ronaki Project across the entire Kurdistan Region within two years, raising questions about the program’s economic sustainability. With an economic activity rate of just 49% among working-age residents and unemployment at 14.7%, many households lack the multiple income streams necessary to absorb such costs.

Path Forward

For the Ronaki Project to achieve its aims without crippling household finances, policymakers may need to reconsider the current pricing model. Options could include implementing graduated tariff structures that provide affordable basic consumption levels, or developing targeted subsidies for lower-income households.

What remains clear is that while 24-hour electricity represents a significant infrastructure advancement, its current implementation threatens to transform a basic utility into a luxury good accessible only to Kurdistan’s most affluent residents—an outcome at odds with the program’s developmental objectives.

As one local electrical engineer who has analyzed the project observed, “The price per kilowatt has effectively risen from 18 dinars to 152 dinars. For the average family, this is simply untenable without significant policy adjustments.”

For Kurdistan’s policymakers, the challenge ahead lies in balancing infrastructure modernization with economic reality—ensuring that the lights stay on without extinguishing household finances.