Millions of Turkish Families Face Higher Electricity Bills Starting in 2027

Turkey's energy market regulator EPDK has reduced the annual cap on subsidized household electricity from 4,000 kilowatt-hours to 3,000 kilowatt-hours, in a decision issued during the agency's meeting yesterday.

The new cap means that a subscriber paying approximately 820 lira monthly or more on their bill will be moved to the unsubsidized higher tier starting January 1, 2027. The cap had been 5,000 kilowatt-hours in 2025, then was cut to 4,000 in 2026, before being reduced again.

According to EPDK figures, the total number of household subscribers in Turkey is 44.2 million, and approximately 6.5 million of them will fall into the higher tier under the new decision—equivalent to 14.7 percent of all household subscribers. Last year, the number of affected subscribers reached around 2.5 million, or 6 percent of households.

The timing of when the higher tier takes effect depends on when a subscriber exceeds the set cap according to a phased schedule: those who exceed 3,000 kilowatt-hours in their October 2026 bill will have the new tier applied starting early 2027; those exceeding it in their December 2026 bill move to the new tier from March 2027; those exceeding it in June 2027 wait until September 2027; and those exceeding it by July 31, 2027 wait until October of the same year.

The decision exempts agricultural, industrial, and government subscribers subject to a 15,000 kilowatt-hour cap, as well as mosques, places of worship, associations, families of martyrs, and those with medical needs such as dialysis patients and users of artificial ventilators, alongside temporary shelters run by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and village drinking water supplies.