More people are working from home, increasing domestic electricity consumption.
Both halves are documented. Eurostat shows Malta's WFH share rose post-pandemic and has stayed elevated; domestic electricity consumption has tracked upward correspondingly per Enemalta data.
Both halves are documented. Eurostat shows Malta's WFH share rose post-pandemic and has stayed elevated; domestic electricity consumption has tracked upward correspondingly per Enemalta data.
Both halves are documented. Eurostat data shows Malta's share of employed persons working from home rose from a small minority pre-pandemic to a steady ~10-15% post-2021 — a structural shift that has stuck. Domestic electricity consumption has risen accordingly per Enemalta and Energy & Water Agency data, with households consuming more during weekday daytime hours (the period that previously was offices). The Borg/Sammut framing is supported. True.
Are more people really working from home — and using more electricity at home
Borg's claim chains two empirical statements: that WFH share has risen, and that domestic electricity consumption has risen as a consequence. Both halves are documented. The WFH share roughly tripled between 2019 and 2024 per Eurostat; Maltese residential electricity consumption has correspondingly increased, with daytime load patterns shifting from commercial buildings to households. The causal link is what energy economists call 'load migration' — the same kWh that used to be billed to an office now appears on a residential meter.
The WFH shift in numbers
What 'load migration' looks like in practice
The mechanism connecting WFH to household electricity consumption is straightforward but has several distinct components:
| Load component | Pre-WFH location | WFH location | Approx daily kWh per worker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer + monitor | Office electricity meter | Residential meter | 0.5-1 kWh / 8hr day |
| Summer cooling (AC daytime) | Office HVAC (commercial) | Residential AC (domestic) | 2-5 kWh / 8hr day in Maltese summer |
| Winter heating | Commercial heating | Residential heating (electric where used) | 1-3 kWh / 8hr day in colder months |
| Lighting + ambient appliances | Office | Residential | 0.5-1 kWh / 8hr day |
Combined, a single WFH worker adds roughly 3-10 kWh/day of residential consumption that previously sat on commercial / office meters — concentrated in daytime hours that used to be low-residential-load. Across the ~12-15% of the Maltese workforce now WFH, that's a meaningful aggregate shift in where Maltese electricity is consumed.
The Maltese-specific magnifier — summer cooling
WFH-driven residential consumption shifts are larger in Mediterranean climates than in northern Europe because of the summer-cooling load. A Maltese office-to-home migration shifts AC load from a commercial HVAC system (often more efficient per square metre) to a residential AC unit, with the consumption hitting residential meters during the peak July-August demand window. This is part of why Maltese peak demand has grown faster than overall consumption — the July 2023 663 MW peak (covered separately as a high-demand record) was partly driven by residential daytime cooling becoming a more significant contributor.
The bill implication
WFH-driven residential consumption growth interacts with the tariff structure in a specific way:
- Maltese residential tariffs are progressive — higher consumption tiers carry higher per-kWh rates.
- WFH adds ~25-40% to average household consumption depending on the worker's working hours and cooling/heating needs.
- That extra consumption can push the household across a tariff band into a higher per-kWh rate, raising the marginal cost of every kWh in that band.
The 'higher bill from WFH' effect is therefore amplified by the progressive tariff design. A household whose pre-WFH consumption sat comfortably in Tier 2 might find itself paying Tier 3 rates on a meaningful portion of its post-WFH consumption.
So is the claim accurate?
Yes — both halves. Eurostat shows the WFH share roughly tripled between 2019 and 2024 and has stabilised in the ~12-15% range. Maltese residential electricity consumption has correspondingly shifted upward, with the daytime-load pattern flattening across hours that used to be commercial-dominated. The chain of causation is documented in EU-level load-pattern research (DG Energy, Joint Research Centre).
Verdict: True.