Jordanians are fuming over a massive hike in electricity prices for January compared to the previous month — an increase of 30% to 80% for most and double for some. Hundreds of thousands of customers have been affected, and the issue has become a public relations disaster for the government that had previously promised not to introduce new taxes or raise the price for electricity and water.

On Feb. 12, Minister of Energy Hala Zawati denied that electricity tariffs were raised, saying that the only reason for the sharp increase in prices was the unprecedented electricity consumption in January due to the cold weather. “People are unaware that higher consumption means that the price of kilowatt-hour [kWh] is calculated at a higher tariff,” she said during a meeting with a parliamentary committee. She admitted that the number of complaints by the public over the January bill was “overwhelming.”

But the government’s explanation was rejected by lawmakers who called on the Lower House’s Energy and Mineral Resources Committee to investigate the issue that has overshadowed protests against the US "deal of the century." Head of the committee Hussein al-Qaisi told Al-Monitor that he has asked the government’s Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC) for a full report explaining the reason for the sharp increase in electricity bills.

He warned that the committee will not allow the disconnection of power for failing to pay until a resolution of the issue is reached. He said that the committee has found that 74% of the increase was on bills below 300 kWh per month.