Although the Government of Montenegro claims that monthly electricity consumption of 300 kilowatts is enough for a household, the calculation of the MANS Public Finance Programme shows that this amount is not enough for a decent life, not even for a single person, let alone a household.
The Government does not state which renunciations would the consumption of 300 kilowatts per month imply, and it recently kept the old price for the subsidy that consumers pay for electricity from small hydropower plants and wind farms, while over this limit, it doubled the subsidy price for each consumed kilowatt.
According to data by Monstat, the average number of household members in Montenegro is between three and four.
The consumption of 300 kilowatts on a daily level would mean that a household could use only a small refrigerator, radiators would work for two hours, stove and boiler for one hour, washing machine for half an hour, TV would be turned on for two hours, only two light bulbs would burn and they would work for a total of four hours.
Decreasing consumption to 300 kilowatts per month during cold winter months would mean that household members would have to spend most of the day outside of the apartment or under a blanket in the apartment, because the radiator could only work for two hours a day.
A boiler would work one hour a day, so the question is whether it is enough to heat water for the needs throughout the day. A washing machine would work an half an hour on average, and according to the work programme, it would be turned on once or twice a week.
Households should have a small fridge that consumes up to 0.2 kilowatt per hour, unlike larger, so-called family fridges, which consume twice as much electricity. They would have to buy food for a few days, because they could not be able to freeze it.
Burner and oven could be turned on for an hour a day, TV would be turned on for two hours, and two energy saving light bulbs would work for two hours.
And while on one side they would have to constantly keep in mind for how long the devices work, on the other hand, they would have to forget about the use of a number of others, such as vacuum cleaner, iron, dishwasher, hair dryer, aspirator or microwave.
Since today mobile phones and laptops are a common necessity, members of the household would have to manage and charge their devices outside the apartment. They would also have to forget about mixers, blenders, toasters, routers, receivers, bathroom heaters and other devices that are now an integral part of most households.
This means that, taking into account today’s lifestyles, people do not give up only luxury, but also their basic needs, and that the Government of Montenegro literally wants to return its citizens back to the past century.”
MANS Public Finance Programme
