Due to natural gas shortage and in action to prevent the economic
system collapse, the Egyptian and Jordanian decision-makers increased the
energy tariffs in hope for reducing the governmental dept. The Egyptian
government started increasing the electrical energy tariff for energy intensive
and medium-sized industries in April 2013, raising controversial issues in the
Egyptian media. In addition, the government reduced its financial support
share to some heavy industries such as Steel, Cement and Copper, and also
doubled the natural gas prices in Sep. 2014.  

While the production sectors mainly aim to find alternative energy
resources, the consumption sectors, on the other hand, should apply effective
energy management and control approaches to achieve consumption rates
reduction. Strategies of increasing the renewable energy resources,
implementing combined cycle power plants as well as super critical steam
generators are some of the approaches adopted by the Egyptian production
sector. Meanwhile, the consumption sector is receiving less attention.
However, both governments are applying various tariffs for the kWh according
to consumption rates. Cutting down energy subsidization will force consumers
to change their consumption habits to cope with the new governmental
incentives.

It has been concluded from a previous surveys and reports conducted by
European project that renewable energy generation and waste treatment are
not sufficient for replacing fossil fuel, and that an effective system to manage
the energy consumed by the costumers must be established. Based on the
outcomes results from the CERES-Tempus project as well as the surveys that
supported the establishment of a smart energy environmental program will
positively affect the consumption sector through monitoring consumers’ habits
for energy saving purposes.