Aladdin Hamza, a retired electric engineer living in Cairo’s Shoubra suburb, wondered how a retiree with a fixed pension could possibly afford the recent surge in electricity prices. “I just don’t get it,” the 64-year-old asked. “How can families, such as mine, keep up with the almost periodical, sharp increases while the breadwinner’s salaries remain almost unchanged?” In August, an anonymous source from the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity reported that the average electricity bill for the industrial sector at medium voltage usage has increased by 40 percent. Household electricity prices, on…