Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry George Papanastasiou spoke today of "unrealistic" figures, expressing the State's surprise at the "paraphilology" that is developing after yesterday's meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Commerce, in which the EAC's requests related to the pricing of electricity were discussed.
In his statements after the Cabinet meeting, at the Presidential Office, and regarding what was heard about increases of 7,5% and 9,5% with VAT, the Minister stated that "there is no way that such a thing will happen". He explained that the Ministry's position is that the EAC, as a regulated entity, should submit to CERA its requests regarding the expenses it claims for the current year and for its development program, which concerns the implementation of the plans and programs for the network. "We expect that it is something that will be submitted to CERA, perhaps even within the day," he noted.
Mr. Papanastasiou continued by saying that the EAC Board of Directors has reached a conclusion on some expenses which it intends to submit to CERA within the day, underlining that "this number will not exceed 3%, that is, as a claim on the tariff."
He also added that "the EAC has also taken other actions regarding the fuel clause, which is another point on the electricity tariff," noting that it has made fuel purchases at low prices, as well as pre-purchases of emission rights. "So with this logic, any increase that we will see in the electricity bill will be imperceptible," the Minister pointed out.
"The numbers that we see circulating in paraphilology, in inventive untruth, I can say, are something that surprises us and we should not continue this discussion," Mr. Papanastasiou reiterated.
Responding to a journalist's remark that the 7,5% and 9% rates were set by an EAC representative at yesterday's Energy Committee meeting, the Minister noted that "the costs that were initially submitted were costs that included other years" and added that "it does not mean that you should claim costs that are from the past, especially when there is a robust organization."
He emphasized that the EAC's official claim from CERA should be expected, assuring that with these costs, with the fuel clause and due to international fuel prices, any increase in the cost of electricity on consumers' bills will be imperceptible.
Responding to a question about whether the rates communicated to the Commission yesterday were misinterpreted, he said that those rates constitute an initial estimate. Responding to another question, he stated that no pressure was exerted by the Government on anyone regarding the price of electricity and said that this is left to the relationship between the regulator and the regulated.
“The EAC, as a public organization, must take the pulse of the consumer, just as it must take the opinion of the state,” continued Mr. Papanastasiou. “We want to have a bill, an electricity, that is sustainable, but at the same time we also want an organization called the EAC to be sustainable,” he added.
Responding, subsequently, to a question regarding the necessity of projects for the development of the EAC network, the Minister noted that the consumer, as well as the sustainability and development of the EAC, should be taken into account as factors. "These two should be balanced and we should make the decision on what the increase in the tariff will be," he noted.
Responding to a question about how the cost of electricity could be affected if the price of fuel increases again internationally, the Minister referred to the start of the operation of the competitive market in October.
"The competitive electricity market is coming on October 1, it is starting after a lot of efforts by this government – and I insist that it is this government," he said. "This market, the competitive one, we hope will provide prices that will respond to the increased penetration of electricity coming from RES," he added.
"Because saying that we had 50% penetration of RES in the electricity mix is not enough for me," concluded Papanastasiou, pointing out that the production that comes at 5 cents/kilowatt hour should be included in the electricity mix and be seen next to the conventional one, which caused the reduction in the penetration of RES into the network.
Source: KYPE
