The government has been handed a completed NOME-type plan for the country’s electricity market, following two rounds of public consultation procedures staged by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, according to energypress sources.

Although the plan is not a finalized proposal, as it still needs to be approved by the authority’s assembly, it does stand as a thorough package that will serve as a base for discussions between the coalition and the country’s creditor representatives, or troika.

If approved by the troika, followed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, the plan will then be delivered to Greek Parliament as a draft bill for ratification. Considering the country’s fiery political climate at present, ratifying a bill that promises to affect the standing of PPC, the Public Power Corporation, promises to be an extremely difficult task, to say the least.

For the time being, the government will need to convince the troika and the Directorate-General for Competition of its NOME-type plan, a unifed proposal divided into two sections. One of these is focused on technical matters. Certain revisions were made following observations made by the troika during its most recent visit to Athens. The plan’s other part deals with determining auction base prices, which is a tricky issue, and the criteria to be used for the new institution’s appraisal.

According to energypress sources, the base price of auctions will be between 35 and 38 euros per megawatt hour, as a net amount, without various surcharges. These figures were arrived at following RAE calculations of PPC’s lignite-related cost levels.

The buying price for suppliers taking part in the auctions will be calculated based on various coefficients – ranging from 0.7 to 1.2 – applied to them, depending on the types of consumer categories they will eventually supply. Lower coefficients will be applied to bigger supplies, resulting in lower prices. For example, purchase price levels for suppliers intending to sell electricity to energy-intensive industries will be calculated using lower coefficients, enabling lower prices. At the other end, price levels for participating suppliers purchasing electricity with the aim of selling in the retail consumer market will be calculated using the highest coefficients.