Restoring consumer concerns and emergency measures brings the new rise in energy costs, as it reached it temporarily on Friday even the 47 euros, a level that has not been seen from the energy crisis in previous years. The information that Gazprom interrupts gas supplies to Austria did not prove 100% true, as during the weekend it became apparent that the quantities continue, simply received by Austrian OMV now indirectly from the physical market and not directly from the Russians. Perhaps this will “collect” the price of the TTF contract today, Monday, November 18, 2024, but the damage has already been done and the Greek government now considers it a one-way street to return to subsidies for electricity consumers, as was the case in summer. The most expensive gas and weather conditions that dropped the production of wind and photovoltaics in our country, launched wholesale electricity prices last week near EUR 200/MWh, a level that translates into tariffs much higher than the 15 minutes/KWh the government considers to be tolerated. As Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in his post Sunday: “There is no way that we will let the excessive increases in wholesale electricity prices that have been observed again in the last few days in southeastern Europe due to failures of the Single Energy Market go to the consumer. I would remind you that at the initiative of Greece, which was supported by Romania and Bulgaria, the problem of these unacceptable malfunctions, which are essentially due to the lack of links between Central Europe and Southeast Europe, was formally raised to the President of the European Commission. I know it is not easy to make the necessary institutional interventions quickly, but a permanent mechanism is needed which will not allow excess income to be paid to consumers and businesses.” A delegation from the European Commission will visit Athens next Friday 22 November 2024 to discuss the matter with the urgency. RIS is expected to put the issue of a trap in wholesale in its contacts with the Commission again, although the latter had made it clear that it is not prepared to accept it unless any crisis has a lasting duration. Problem for industry amid recovery In the above we should add the negative impact of energy price increases on Greek industries, which from July 2023 to July 2024 recorded the second best performance pan-European with an increase of 10.5%. At the same time, that is, that most European countries saw their own industrial size decline, in Greece we had a remarkable performance. Now, industrial consumers, especially energy-saving, see again the ‘ghost’ of the energy crisis making its appearance and state that unlike households, they do not enjoy the same protection. As the President of EVIKEN, Antonis Contoleons recently pointed out, the Greek energy industry cannot compete with the respective industries of Europe, when it is forced to pay the fluctuations in the price of the wholesale price, and while it is not supported by the State as is done in other countries.
Energy: Double “bomb” at electricity and gas prices
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