You raise the price? We cut it!

Before the decision for higher electricity rates has even been reached, new increases are examined! But we Greeks are consuming less and less.

These people have shown extraordinary resilience through the centuries – which other nation has ever recovered from 400 years of slavery?

Well, it seems that now, too, in the most difficult years after the Changeover, the people are searching daily to find outlets against Troika, Memoranda, taxes, measures, cuts, increases, layoffs and everything else that has been dominating the news for months now.

The reason for the story you are reading is on the one hand, the information published on Sunday by "Proto Thema" according to which even before the noise against the power increases for the next year, announced in October, has quieted down, the Minister in charge, Tina Birbili, is accepting suggestions for new increases that will overburden citizens through their electricity bill!

On the other hand, the fact is that Greek citizens find ways to overcome the successive electroshocks, consuming les and less electricity…

Meeting under Tina Birbili

Let’s start at the beginning: On Monday, a meeting is scheduled at the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change between its administration, the Public Power Corporation, the Regulatory Authority for Energy and the HTSO administration, the body responsible for the transmission of electricity and the root cause of this evil!

And that’s because HTSO is the collector of the fee for the CRES (renewable energy sources or “green energy” if you like) paid by consumers through the electricity bill, as well as the one who pays businessmen to produc electricity from renewable sources.

This fee is 0,3 euro per megawatt hour, burdening a middle class family with 2 more euros for every 4 months, while for commercial and industrial enterprises it is 5,57 euros per megawatt hour.

However, HTSO was 50 mil. euros out-of-budget last year and 45 this year, since the collected funds are insufficient, while the auditors ask that the Manager proceeds to a capital increase by at least 25 million (which must be covered in half by the State and the PPC) and threatens that they will not issue a certificate for the carrier to continue the service! In fear of international exposure, HTSO has asked for a fee increase of 7,18 euros per MW/h, which, if accepted, will burden a middle class family with 10 euros per 4 months on the electricity bill…
 
Minus 20 euros for the family budget

We have to remember here that a 4-member family has already been burdened with 8 euros by the implementation of the electricity tax in May, while a - euro extra charge in the electricity bill comes on the first of January, as announced in October.

But mentioned above, the Greeks are tough! And while in August and September electricity usage stabilized after a 2-year drop, in October the citizens cut down on their demand and maybe some of us are using candle light or petroleum lamps more often…

And to prove that, on a yearly basis in October consumers both (households and businesses) have used 3% less electricity; that’s 3,3 mil. KW/h, a percentage that takes us back 4 years!

It’s not by chance then that only last Thursday, during the PPC performance presentation for January-September, the president Mr Arthuros Zervos predicted a 3,5% decrease in electricity sales for this year, even if one of the reasons for the decline is the loss of customers to the benefit of private electricity suppliers.

But let’s wait for the outcome of today’s meeting at the Ministry of E.E.C.C…