A more equitable policy on subsidies would benefit consumers rather than energy providers, PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis said in an opinion piece on Saturday.
Published in Ta Nea newspaper, the article notes the excessive profits of the Public Power Corporation, which he said led the climb to high pricing.
The difference between wholesale and selling prices brought the company excess profits of 500 million euros in just one month, he said. He added that energy providers set retail prices arbitrarily, based on their commercial policy rather than cost, which results in the state subsidizing bills with massive amounts in order to control prices somewhat.
“In the three months of the system’s implementation to the present, subsidies approach 4.1 billion euros, of which 1.7 billion euros come directly from the state budget, and to a large extent from the funds that were supposed to fund the fair transition of lignite regions as well as investments in the electricity network,” Androulakis said. “But the government’s policy provides the funding to energy companies,” he claimed.
PASOK-KINAL supports a progressive, staggered system of price control in the retail market instead of an across-the-board one, which would protect vulnerable citizens and businesses. This measure – transparent and without mediation – has already been included in the European Commission’s tool box since February, and distributes the cost fairly among state, producers, and consumers, without creating excessive profits in a few to the detriment of the many, Androulakis said.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
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