The government is moving to revise its energy subsidies strategy, until now offered universally, regardless of consumption levels, by incorporating subsidies with energy usage, offering them as a reward for restricted consumption, an approach also being prepared on a wider European scale by the European Commission.

In Greece, state subsidies offered for electricity over the past few months have covered as much as 94 percent of electricity cost increases.

However, such generous support, irrespective of electricity consumption levels, cannot be sustained in 2023 as fiscal margins have tightened, government sources informed, adding that the budget cannot keep supporting such expenditure over an extended period.

Given the high level of electricity subsidies in Greece, consumers have remained careless with consumption.

The European Commission is believed to be preparing to incorporate a revised version of Greece’s windfall tax on electricity producers into its wider plan promoting measures designed to reduce electricity demand.