GSEVEE: The August subsidy is positive, the rising kilowatt-hour prices are worrying

The General Confederation of Professional Craftsmen Merchants of Greece characterizes as positive the announcement by the Minister of Environment and Energy Kostas Skrekas for the August subsidy (amounting to 1.136 billion euros) in electricity which will absorb 90% of the increases in household tariffs, 80% of the increases to the small and medium-sized ones, etc., with the result that the price of the kilowatt hour reaches 15 to 17 cents.

The prices announced by the providers for August, which range around 50 cents per kilowatt hour (without subsidies, fixed charges, etc.), cause concern, as noted in a statement by GSEVEE. This price, as noted, is about five times the price per kilowatt-hour by June 2021 and up 50% from the June 2022 price (30 – 35 minutes).

GSEVEE estimates that the quintuple of the price of electricity (before subsidies) requires the adoption of structural and long-term measures that will reduce the price of electricity. Such measures, among others, are:

• The change in the way electricity is priced so that it does not depend on the most expensive producer, which is currently natural gas.

• The reduction of the participation of natural gas in the energy mix, which today 25/7 amounts to 48% of the total mix.

• The increase in the participation of lignite, which currently stands at 19%, and

• The exemption of Greece from the carbon tax until we stop holding the pan-European energy poverty record.

“Given the rapid upcoming developments in the energy field in the coming weeks and months, it is critical to advance a multi-layered coordinated package in time to avert the risk of an energy (and economic) meltdown,” the statement concluded.