Local industrial sector officials, on stand-by to see how the Greek government opts to shape its energy cost policy before deciding on their stance, expect Greece to fully adopt EU guidelines on an ETMEAR emissions surcharge and offer reduced rates.

The issue is of crucial importance for the industrial sector as it not only concerns the surcharge amount to be imposed for 2016 but may also lead to additional retroactive payments covering the previous two years.

RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, recently submitted a proposal to revise Greece’s current ETMEAR terms, prompting industrial sector concerns of an unfavorable development. In its request, RAE refered only to general rates without taking into consideration reduced rates offered by the EU guidelines for certain sectors.

The ETMEAR rates for local high-voltage enterprises, between 2014 and 2016, stand at 11.43 percent and 11.3 percent, below the minimum billing level, which could lead to requests for partial recovery.

Local industrial enterprise officials, anticipating full implementation of EU guidelines on energy costs, are currently engaged in one-on-one talks with the main power utility PPC for individualized new tariff deals. These negotiations would be severely set back by any unfavorable ETMEAR surcharge revisions imposed on the industrial sector.