EBIKEN, the country’s Industrial Consumers Association, has called for the industrial sector’s exemption from an anticipated increase to the Public Service Compensation (YKO) charge, in a written appeal forwarded to two ministries, the Ministry of Environment, Energy & Climate Change and the Ministry of Development & Competitiveness.

According to the industrial representative group, the latest annual YKO figure decided on by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, has been set at 850 million euro, meaning that electricity consumers, overall, will be expected to cover an additional 180 million euro compared to 2013, a 25% year-on-year increase.

“The increase in overall YKO charges justifies the industrial sector’s concern over a prospective price increase for high-voltage and medium-voltage units from the current, and very expensive, level of 4.14 euro per MWh,” EBIKEN noted in an announcement, adding that this would prove disastrous for the country’s industrial sector.

EBIKEN, in its announcement, called for a reduction of YKO charges to be imposed on industrial firms to a level of 2.5 euro per megawatt hour. The group also protested that a series of energy cost-cutting measures for the industrial sector, announced by the coalition government last February, had remained unimplemented.

The YKO charge is covered by all electricity consumers through power bills to support the additional costs entailed in generating electricity on the country’s islands. The cost of electricity production on the islands, generated by local stations, is considerably higher than mainland levels. The YKO charge also subsidizes power-bill discounts for large families and underprivileged social groups.