Energy market officials have been unsettled by this week’s assembly of seven working groups to examine crucial energy sector issues as they believe independent, private-sector concerns and consumer interests have been excluded from the committee line-ups.

The working groups, endorsed by the interim government’s caretaker Production Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister Ioannis Golias, were announced two days ago.

Private-sector authorities were also excluded from public consultation procedures that determined the agendas to be tackled by the committees.

Issues to be worked on include gas market reforms, transitional and final CAT mechanisms, tariff revisions, NOME-type auction revisions, as well as preparation of an alternative proposal offsetting the need to privatize IPTO, the power grid operator.

In comments offered to energypress, a number of private-sector market authorities reacted strongly to the new of the committees and their line-ups. All state-run companies with energy-sector interests are well represented. They will forward their proposals and positions in committees where private-sector officials representing enterprises and consumers will be absent.

Of course, these committees may be rendered irrelevant following this Sunday’s elections. Much will depend on the results. Even so, the assembly of these working groups, announced just four days before the elections, did not go by unnoticed in the local energy market.