City of Athens launches municipal ‘alliance’ for cheaper power
The City of Athens is spearheading an initiative with other municipal authorities in the Attica region that will allow them to negotiate special rates with energy suppliers as a single corporate customer.
Additionally seeking to promote power production through renewables, the so-called Athens Energy Alliance already has eight members, with four more mulling entry into the scheme.
The aim of the initiative is to reduce the electricity bills of the participating municipalities, giving them room to invest in greener forms of power and to help households struggling with energy poverty.
“It’s about power in numbers,” Athens Mayor Haris Doukas said of the initiative. “We are only asking for what is due: access to the market so we can provide vulnerable households with electricity.”
Doukas indicated that the scheme is part of a larger campaign to create cooperation networks between municipal authorities in several different areas.
Apart from Athens, the other municipalities in the energy alliance so far are Egaleo, Vyronas, Zografou, Kallithea, Moschato-Tavros, Papagou-Holargos and Nea Ionia. Vari, Voula, Vouliagmeni and Nea Smyrni have also expressed an interest.
