A 90 million-euro amount paid into the RES special account by main power utility PPC for 2014 and 2015 that now needs to be returned to the utility following a reassessment, according to information just obtained from energypress sources, makes more complicated a bailout-required obligation faced by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, to revise the RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharge appearing on electricity bills by the end of December with the aim of eliminating the RES special account deficit by the end of 2017.
RAE’s task could have been simpler. Data and forecasts provided by the account’s administrator, LAGIE, the Electricity Market Operator, that have not taken into account the aforementioned 90 million-euro figure, just disclosed, indicate that the RES special account, boosted by increased electricity supplier contributions, is headed for a surplus of 71.8 million euros by the end of next year. Normally, this prospect would allow RAE to reduce the ETMEAR surcharge for at least some consumer categories. However, the sudden emergence of the 90 million-euro amount that LAGIE must return to PPC will prevent a surcharge decrease.
This 90 million-euro figure has come into play because PPC overestimated consumer demand for 2014 and 2015 and injected greater-than-required amounts into the RES special account for that two-year period. PPC also owes amounts to LAGIE. The two will need to balance the amounts to determine final payments.
The 90 million-euro that needs to be credited to PPC promises to wipe out the RES special account’s surplus forecast of 71.8 million euros by the end of 2017 and instead produce a deficit of around 18 million euros.
Though this amount is not substantial, RAE theoretically needs to slightly increase the ETMEAR surcharge for consumers. However, this prospect will most likely be avoided as Greek government officials are expected to seek a slight extension from the country’s lenders to the deadline by which the RES special account must be balanced.
Subsequently, if things turn out this way, the ETMEAR surcharge will remain unchanged.