“The new debt rescheduling and electricity bill payment procedure benefits more than 50% of STEG customers,” announced Fathi Khalfaoui, Director of Debt Collection and Energy Loss Control at the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company.
‘This new procedure aims to ease the financial burden on consumers while improving the company’s financial situation. Currently, unpaid bills amount to 3.8 million dinars.
He added that the national infrastructure and electricity network are ready and fully prepared to meet the increase in demand during the summer of 2025.
Interview:
What conditions must farmers meet to benefit from the rescheduling of their debts to STEG?
As part of the expansion of the base of beneficiaries of the accumulated debt repayment plan, on May 19, 2025 the company began rescheduling the unpaid debts of farmers, including low-voltage customers and those benefiting from the agricultural irrigation tariff, over a maximum period of seven years.
The application process will continue until September 1, 2025. Those wishing to benefit from this measure must submit an application to the relevant parties.
This measure affects around 75,000 farmers with debts totaling 150 million dinars.
Years of drought and insufficient rainfall have forced farmers to irrigate their land by connecting to the electricity grid, resulting in higher bills and a surge in unpaid debts.
Are there any special procedures for residential customers?
Since February last year, the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company has offered a debt rescheduling program to two million residential customers who are in default on debts totaling over 700 million dinars.
Initially, this category was included in the automated rescheduling system and no specific applications were required.
However, today written applications are required to benefit from debt rescheduling plans.
As of April 30, 2025, the company had received almost 100,000 requests to cancel or reject rescheduling plans.
A rescheduling option is also available to small businesses and water companies with debts of up to 100 million dinars.
To what extent has the rescheduling procedure contributed to improving STEG’s financial situation?
Approximately 2.5 million customers are currently benefiting from the debt rescheduling plan out of a total of 4.5 million STEG customers. More than 50% of customers have benefited from this rescheduling.
While a formal and concrete assessment of the measure is pending in the first weeks of June, initial indicators are positive, showing a slight improvement in turnover compared to 2024.
“We hope that this measure will ease the financial burden on customers and improve the company’s situation.
“We invite all customers to pay their bills or contact STEG agencies to arrange to pay their debts in installments,” the manager added.
Are there any new measures to reduce electricity losses?
Since early 2025, the company has made significant efforts to reduce energy losses.
STEG has contacted the relevant parties and regions to combat electricity theft in all its forms, for example by increasing surveillance operations and staff and meter inspections.
The company has also succeeded in recovering a significant amount of energy. In 2024, for example, STEG recovered approximately 450 gigawatts.
The main causes of energy loss are theft through meter or network tampering or theft of electrical transformers. STEG is working to combat and reduce these phenomena.
Why does the company resort to power cuts?
Power cuts are used for consumers who do not pay their bills.
We often adopt a staggered repayment plan, which includes large consumers such as large companies and factories, to avoid disrupting the economic cycle. This is why STEG is constantly seeking consensual payment arrangements.
How is STEG preparing to cope with peak summer electricity demand in 2025?
STEG’s infrastructure, power plants and networks are ready to meet the increased demand for electricity during the summer.
STEG does not plan any special preparations for summer 2025, as maintenance and monitoring of production facilities and electricity transmission and distribution networks have been carried out periodically since September 2024.
Therefore, it can be said that no special preparations are being made for the summer, and that maintenance of the national electricity network is carried out regularly.
Are any periodic power cuts planned for this summer?
Absolutely not. STEG is ready to ensure a stable electricity supply throughout the summer, and both energy and production are available. There will be no scheduled power cuts.
