‘Disruption’ initiative, needing revisions, in jeopardy

The “disruption management” measure, recently introduced to enable energy cost savings for major-scale industry in exchange for shifting energy usage to off-peak hours whenever required by the operator, is in jeopardy of being bogged down following an initial pilot auction offered for March.

Revenues raised through these were auctions were well below the expected levels, while the capacities offered did not meet the overall demand expressed by industrial enterprises, prompting a large number of firms to be left out.

Though industries have called for capacity increases that would help satisfy the excess demand, local authorities appear to be headed in the opposite direction. A reduced amount seems likely to be offered for the “disruption management” measure’s next auction.

Such a move would come as a setback for the industrial sector as it will delay the implementation of other measures, including ones concerning EU directives and the special consumption tax (EFK) imposed on industrial-sector electricity. The effort to revise tariffs in the electricity sector would also be delayed. Under current conditions, industrial enterprises seem unwilling to sign new power-supply supply agreements with PPC, the main power utility.

Industrial sector sources believe a lack of political will threatens to destroy the entire framework of measures and initiatives intended to support industry. The “disruption management” plan may have been introduced as a measure to bolster the grid’s security, but, in practical terms, it represents a key energy cost-reducing measure for industry.