The energy ministry is preparing a series of measures intended to alleviate independent supplier concerns fueled by the ministry’s plan to abolish NOME auctions.

These measures, expected next month, should satisfy at least some of the demands made by independent electricity suppliers, who have been able to acquire lower-cost wholesale electricity at the NOME auctions.

The ministry is working to bring together the measures as a package that could be attached to a draft bill concerning power utility PPC’s restructuring.

Supplier representatives, at various recent meetings with deputy energy minister Gerassimos Thomas, have demanded a series of interventions, minor and major.

These have included a call for stricter legal framework to counter electricity theft and obligating distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO and power grid operator IPTO to relay to suppliers a share of network surcharges paid by consumers through electricity bills.

The ministry is seeking to offset the cost for suppliers of its plan to abolish NOME auctions and, thereby, make clear that the government’s plan to restructure PPC – the dominant yet troubled retail player with a 74 percent market share – does not entail blocking independent suppliers from this market.

NOME auctions, introduced about three years ago, have forced PPC to offer independent suppliers below-cost wholesale electricity and incur accumulating damages now worth millions, the energy ministry has argued.