Grid fee hike if producers take on 50% of expansion costs

RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, has warned the energy ministry that a decision it has reached to make electricity producers responsible for half the cost of expanding electrical distribution and transmission networks would significantly increase regulated network usage surcharges included in electricity bills.

The authority forwarded a letter to the ministry last Thursday to highlight the dangers of this measure, which has been facilitated by a legislative revision ratified back in the summer of 2022.

Surcharges concerning the country’s transmission network, managed by power grid operator IPTO, would be particularly affected, RAAEY noted in its letter.

However, the distribution network, operated by DEDDIE/HEDNO, the distribution network operator, would be less exposed to surcharge increases as it caters to RES producers and concerns lines that do not serve consumers but are connected to privately owned high or medium-voltage substations, new or existing, as well as network extension projects of less than 100 meters in length for connecting individual generators.