Electricity authority (EAC) employees began a 24-hour strike at midnight, with trade unions not ruling out escalating measures.

During the strike, EAC headquarters and customer service officers will remain closed.

In a statement on Wednesday, the EAC said the strike was not expected to affect the operation of critical infrastructure affecting consumers, and skeleton staff would be on duty to make sure there were no power cuts.

In the meantime, consumers are advised to use online services, apps, banks and post offices to pay bills.

To apply for connection, disconnection and transfers during the strike, consumers can send an email the EAC, and to monitor applications for connection and photovoltaic systems.

On Tuesday, trade unions said they were disappointed from their meeting with Energy Minister Michael Damianos, who pointed out that problems in the energy sector could not be solved overnight.

On behalf of Sek, Kyriacos Tafounas on Wednesday said Damianos could not give solutions to the EAC’s problems for another three or four years, and “by that time we won’t have electricity”. He added that excluding the EAC from renewable energy sources was not to the benefit of consumers.

Speaking on Tuesday after the meeting with Damianos, Peo representative Demetris Constantinou said the unions’ positions were aligned with those of the EAC board of directors. Referring to the strike, he did not rule out escalating measures.

EAC board chairman George Petrou said the trade unions’ major concerns were over telecommunications authority Cyta entering the energy market and that Thursday’s strike was not over differences with the EAC but the state.