Tiered subsidies for electricity

Electricity rates for the vast majority of household consumers (up to 500 kilowatt hours) will be contained next month to 14 to 17 cents per kilowatt-hour, thanks to the high state subsidies absorbing 90% of the increases. 

Above 19 cents and up to 31.2 cents/Kwh, the charges for the second scale of consumption (501 to 1,000 KWh/month) will vary, and for the consumption of more than 1,000 KWh, which represents only 2% of consumers, it will be much higher.

The government, according to Wednesday’s announcements by Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas, will allocate a total of 1.1 billion euros to subsidize bills in October. Of this, €1 billion is from the wind tax on the power producing companies and the revenues from pollutant auctions, plus €100 million from the state budget.

For October, tiered subsidies will apply, namely 43.6 cents/KWh for the first category, 38.6 cents for the second and 33.6 cents for the third, against a single subsidy of 63.9 cents in September. In the case of the second and third tiers, an additional subsidy of €50/MWh is provided for households that reduce their consumption by 15% compared to the corresponding period last year. A corresponding saving incentive is not foreseen for the first tier, which represents 90% of total consumption. Subsidies absorb 70-90% of the increases (depending on the scale) and for households included in the social rates almost 100%, with the subsidy amounting to 48.5 cents/KWh.

Meanwhile DEPA Commercial on Wednesday announceda generous horizontal subsidy for natural gas consumption, amounting to €90/MWh for October, thereby continuing its efforts, in collaboration with the government, to support the 700,000 domestic consumers of natural gas against the international rally in energy prices.

As announced by the company, the subsidy applies to all consumption levels and will cover 50% of the increase in the price of natural gas for all domestic consumers, regardless of income, size of residence or provider.