EAC in Cyprus: how to get electricity into your name, what the deposit is, and what it costs

That's the whole mechanism. The rest is which request you're making, what to bring and what it costs. For the usual case, a tenant or buyer taking over an existing supply, the steps run like this:

1. 1
   Check which request you need. A transfer if someone already has an account at the address, a reconnection if the supply was switched off, a new connection for a new build.
2. 2
   Gather the documents. A title deed, contract of sale or rental agreement, an ID card, passport or ARC, and the previous customer's signed consent or your written declaration.
3. 3
   Email or visit your Customer Service Centre. Send scans to your area supply mailbox, or walk into any EAC Customer Service Centre.
4. 4
   Sign the Electricity Supply Agreement. EAC emails it back to sign, scan and return. Tenants pay the deposit at signing (€200 EU, €350 non-EU); owners see €75 on the first bill.
5. 5
   Check your first bill. It carries the €15 plus VAT transfer charge and can take up to two months, because most homes are billed every two months.

Before you start, EAC's connections page settles two things:

• When you take over a supply, EAC opens a new account in your name and the previous customer's agreement ends automatically. You don't inherit their account.
• EAC deletes the copy of your ID once it has confirmed who you are.

Do you have to use EAC?

No, not any more. The retail electricity market opened on 1 October 2025, so households can sign with another licensed supplier. Existing customers stayed with their supplier at the start, according to the Cyprus Institute. Whoever you pick, the network, the meter and faults stay with EAC Distribution, which charges for its services to customers of all suppliers. So older guides that call EAC a monopoly are out of date.

Most newcomers renting or buying a resale flat need a transfer of supply. Pick your row, then read the matching sections below.

For a new build, you apply to EAC Distribution with the Services Provision Form. EAC publishes it in Greek only. Email it to your area office (amc-lefkosia, amc-lemesos, amc-larnaca or amc-pafos at eac.com.cy). A licensed electrician wires the property, EAC inspects it, and you can sign the supply agreement 1 to 5 days before the inspection date. A reconnection may need an installation inspection first if Distribution asks for one.

1. 1
   Property document. With a title deed you must hold at least a half share. Otherwise bring a partition agreement, or the certified consent of co-owners holding at least 50% with their deeds.
2. 2
   Identity. An ID card, passport or Alien Registration Certificate (ARC). An EU citizen can sign with a national ID card before getting a Yellow Slip.
3. 3
   Authorisation. A power of attorney must be certified by a certifying officer. EAC accepts it for up to 5 years, and a new certification extends it. Documents you sign in front of EAC staff need no certification.
4. 4
   Previous customer's consent (transfers). Their signed agreement to end their contract. If you can't reach them, you declare in writing when you sign that they've gone and nobody else occupies the property.
5. 5
   Inspection Date Form (new connections). It shows the MDMS service-point ID.

Companies add a certificate of incorporation, a directors and shareholders certificate, and either guarantee form Ε-ΠΚ-115 or a higher deposit.

What EAC doesn't list: a tax number, a stamped lease, the previous tenant's bill or the meter number. You'll see all four described as "required" elsewhere. The Premise ID from an old bill does speed things up, because it stays the same when tenants change.

The amounts have been in force since 1 January 2015 and are identical in EAC's English table and its Greek table. You get the deposit back on your final bill, after any unpaid amount is deducted.

Which row you land in turns on two details:

• A non-EU owner pays the same €75 as a Cypriot owner. Nationality only matters when you rent.
• Tariff 08 is limited to Cypriot, EU and EEA citizens (or people with equal rights) who are legally resident. The bill has to be in the applicant's or spouse's name (EAC domestic tariffs). A non-EU tenant is never in the €50 row.

Business tariffs carry deposits from €200 to €900 on the same table.

The fee amounts come from EAC's Greek charges schedule dated 1 June 2026. The English edition is still dated 2015, so I've used the Greek one as the current document. The late-payment rate is on EAC's charges page. All service charges are subject to VAT, but EAC doesn't state the rate on them.

Some guides say the transfer is free. It isn't: EAC charges €15 plus VAT. You'll also see "about €20" quoted; that number isn't on any EAC schedule, so go by the €15 plus VAT.

These come from EAC's Network Customer Charter and Supply Customer Charter. If EAC misses a guarantee, a credit goes on your next bill automatically.

The clock starts on the working day after your call or application. EAC's FAQ gives 3 to 6 working days for a new connection and "the next working day at the latest" for a reconnection.

For a transfer, guides quote anything from 1 to 5 working days. EAC doesn't commit to a number, so I'd send the email the day you sign the lease rather than the day you move in.

Your first bill can take up to two months to arrive, because EAC bills domestic tariffs in two-monthly periods.

It's a trade-off, and I'd weigh it before saying yes. Each point below traces to EAC's own rules.

What you gain

• No €200 or €350 deposit, since the account sits at the landlord's €75 owner rate.
• No paperwork.

What it costs you

• A bill in your name. The Yellow Slip application asks for an EAC or Water Board bill in the tenant's name as proof of address, and banks often ask for one too. My banking guide covers what banks accept instead.
• The Charter right to a meter reading within 2 working days, which applies only when the bill is in your name.
• The tariff-08 discount, where you'd qualify, because that bill must be in your or your spouse's name.
• Control. If the landlord doesn't pay, EAC can disconnect the address.

If you agree to it, write it into the lease. Say who holds the account, how the recharge is worked out (a meter reading at handover and at each bill), and who keeps the deposit receipt. Disputes over recharges are a tenancy matter, not an EAC one.

The written declaration in the documents list is for a previous customer you can't reach. It isn't a way around a landlord who says no.

The area supply mailboxes, listed on EAC's payment page, are:

• Nicosia: supplynic@eac.com.cy
• Limassol: supplylim@eac.com.cy
• Larnaca: supplylar@eac.com.cy
• Paralimni (Famagusta): supplypar@eac.com.cy
• Paphos: supplypafos@eac.com.cy

From a foreign phone, the account line 1818 is +357 22201818 and the fault line 1800 is +357 22201800.

You can also pay by SEPA direct debit from an account at any bank in the European Economic Area, and the mandate can be emailed. A German or Polish account works.

But how does a tenant pay the deposit "at signing" when signing by email? I couldn't find the answer on any EAC page, so ask the centre when you apply.

Cyprus Post won't take a part payment, only the full amount on the bill. After the due date, you can pay only at a Customer Service Centre or online with the three check digits printed on the bill. And interest runs at 4.00% a year. To check a bill online, sign in to your account on eac.com.cy or in the EAC app: both show your balance, consumption history and e-bills.

What each line means, from EAC's bill explanation and tariff sheet:

• Premise ID. Unique to the property and unchanged when tenants change. Quote it for faults and readings.
• Tariff code. 01 is the single rate; 02 is two-rate, cheaper from 23:00 to 09:00; 08 is the vulnerable-customer tariff; 56 is thermal storage.
• Fuel adjustment. Recalculated monthly from EAC's fuel, carbon and oil-stock costs above a base of €600 a tonne. It's part of the price, not an extra.
• PSO. The public service obligation levy, €0.00051 per kWh since 1 January 2025.
• RES and Energy Saving Fund. Paid into the renewables fund; no VAT is charged on it.
• VAT. Household electricity on tariffs 01, 02, 08 and 56 is taxed at 5% rather than the standard 19%, for meter readings from 1 May 2026 to 31 March 2027. That comes from Council of Ministers decree ΚΔΠ 167/2026 in the Official Gazette, and it replaced the 9% rate that applied before it. Check which rate your bill shows if it covers April 2026.

Bill based on an estimated reading? Give EAC the real one on the free phone line 8000 6000 with your 10-digit premise number, in the app or through the online form. Then EAC reviews the bill.

What all that adds up to per kWh, and why Cypriot bills run high in summer, is in my cost of living guide.

• 1800 is Distribution: faults, the network, dangerous installations.
• 1818 is Supply: your account, bills and payments (EAC contact page).
• Planned work comes with at least 2 working days' notice under the Charter.
• If only your home is off because EAC's main fuse failed, EAC guarantees a visit within 4 hours for calls between 07:00 and midnight, or credits €8.54. A call-out for a fault on your side of the meter costs €24 (07:00 to midnight) or €62 overnight, plus VAT.

This applies whichever supplier bills you, because Distribution runs the network for everyone. Need the Customer Service Centre in Limassol, Nicosia, Larnaca, Paphos or Paralimni? Use EAC's own centre list, not an address copied elsewhere. When I checked, two EAC pages gave different addresses for one office.

1. 1
   Tell EAC. Email or write to your area centre with your new postal address, phone number and a copy of your ID (EAC connections page).
2. 2
   Disconnection and final reading. EAC guarantees the disconnection within 1 working day and a final reading within 2.
3. 3
   Photograph the meter. Do it on your last day, with the date visible.
4. 4
   Settle the final bill. EAC can also move a credit to another EAC account in your name.