Rule on return of excess profits of power suppliers is approved

An amendment which temporarily establishes the reimbursement of part of the windfall profits of electricity suppliers in Greece was approved in Parliament on Wednesday. The Environment and Energy Ministry’s bill was approved in the plenary session by the votes of ruling New Democracy alone.

Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas said, “We envisage the extension of this mechanism for taxing surplus profits in the supply sector too,” adding that Greece has created a mechanism for taxing surplus profits in the production sector, which has so far yielded about 2.5 billion euros. That latter amount is now being used to help consumers pay their electricity bills.

For the first time after the abolition of the adjustment clause, he added, “we have obliged suppliers to declare electricity prices for the following month on the 20th of every month.” Due to considerable changes in the prices of wholesale electricity, Skrekas warned, owing to changing natural gas prices, “there is a possibility that excess revenues, excess profits, will be created in the supply sector as well.”

“We calculate a fair retail price, based on the actual wholesale price, and we calculate what the price charged by suppliers is,” he continued, “and if there is a difference between the fair price and the price charged, namely the positive difference, we will recover it as a percentage – initially at 60% this year – leaving a remaining 40%, which will be offset by possible differences in the next quarters.”