Protection from energy hikes
Electricity bills are to be subsidized by up to 9 euros per month, Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas announced on Monday. This is a part of the plan set in motion to protect consumers from big hikes in power rates, by decision of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, he added.
In an announcement outlining the government’s plan to deal with an anticipated rise in electricity rates due to higher natural gas and carbon emission rights prices, Skrekas said the subsidy will be given to all low-voltage power grid consumers, regardless of their provider.
He added that the Public Power Corporation (PPC) will expand its existing discount policy to fully cover the price rise for the average household with consumption of up to 600 kilowatt hours per month.
According to the ministry, these measures will offset almost all the price rises for the average household up to the end of the year. As of next month, the amount of this support will be indicated in a separate line in electricity bills so that it is easily understood by consumers.
Skrekas has also called an emergency meeting on Tuesday to further clarify the support measures, to be attended by the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) and all power providers, at which he will ask for their assistance in offsetting the impact of rising energy costs on consumers by absorbing a part of this increase.
The assistance for consumers will be financed by the Special Support Fund for the Energy Transition, to which the sum of at least €150 million will be diverted from the increased revenue for Greece in 2021 from the Carbon Emissions Trading Rights System.
The situation will be re-examined at the end of the year, and, if the current conditions in the international energy market continue, an extension of the support from the special fund will be examined.
There will also be a 20% increase in the heating oil subsidy, while 100 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Fund for the construction of photovoltaic stations by municipal energy communities will be used to provide power to vulnerable households at virtually no cost.
