Minister to reduce RAE’s authority in local energy market

The executive powers of RAE, the country’s Regulatory Authority for Energy, appear set to be restricted as part of a plan by the newly appointed Production Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister Panayiotis Lafazanis to increase the state’s control over independently operating institutions.

The plan to reduce RAE’s authority in Greece’s energy market, requiring legislative procedures, will be made “within the context of EU directives”, according to Lafazanis, who heads the leftist Syriza-led government’s more radical left, known as the “Left Platform”.

Other upcoming developments at RAE include the addition of two new board members, to fill current voids, as well as the replacement of the authority’s outgoing president Nikos Vassilakos, whose five-year term expires within the next few days.