Electricity prices went up again in the last two days with the price of MWh to have reached over 215 euros. Alerted by the citizens’ discontent over a high cost f living, the Greek government appeared to plan new subsidy on electricity bills. €
“There is no way such prices will be passed on to the consumer” Energy & Environment Minister Theodoros Skylakakis said on Thursday, while the government spokesman announced taxation of the providers’ excess profits.
Greece is the seventh most expensive in Europe today.
Price for MWh reached 217.24 euros on Thursday – that is, at 0.21 euros per Kwh, despite a 6.5% drop compared to Wednesday.
The price increase is 54% higher when compared to the previous month, October.
“There is no way we can let these prices, which do not reflect real costs in the market, be passed on to the consumer,” Minister Skylakakis stressed.
“The state is not going to allow some people to speculate at the expense of citizens. Profit is not criminalized, speculation is criminalized. And because we have used such tools in the past, rest assured that we will do so again, should such a need arise,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on his part.
It is noted that on Thursday, the wholesale price of electricity was the seventh most expensive in Europe – with Albania, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and Hungary being even more expensive, at levels reaching 400 euros per MWh.
In contrast, prices in northern, central and western Europe remained at lower levels, despite the fact that natural gas in the Dutch TTF hub market rose by more than 4%, to 45.89 euros per MWh, recording an increase of 41.7% since the beginning of 2024.
Minister Skylakakis announced that he will meet a competent delegation of the European Commission that will visit Athens and he will discuss the issue as a matter of urgency. The meeting is sceduled next Friday, November 22, 2024.
The European wholesale cap system is practically unworkable, as it requires a long period of excessive prices in order to be activated. Prices must be high for over three months for subsidies to be approved, state broadcaster ERt reported.
As there is a political decision not to pass the tariff increases, government officials noted that the system that was implemented in July for August tariffs is ready, namely a ceiling on wholesale gas from a certain point and above and then subsidies on bills, so that they are formed around 15 cents/KWh.
According to the available data so far, businesses will continue to be outside the protection umbrella, due to the rules prohibiting state aid. Therefore, subsidies will be for natural persons only.
some Greek media reported that in any case and regardless of the outcome of the discussion between the Energy Minister and the Commission delegation, the political decision is ad hoc interventions, whenever deemed necessary.
