PPC, HEDNO summoned by authority over RES payment delays

The main power utility PPC and HEDNO, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator, a subsidiary of the utility, have both been summoned by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, to offer explanations for payment delays from the former to the latter, which is ultimately postponing payments to renewable energy (RES) producers on the non-interconnected islands for their electricity production.

The hearings will begin tomorrow when PPC officials will face RAE for questioning on issues determined by the authority. Besides HEDNO, locally acronymed DEDDIE, PPC is also delaying payments to the power grid operator IPTO, also a PPC utility.

Debt owed by PPC to HEDNO and IPTO has accumulated as a result of the payment delays. PPC attributes its payment delays to a cash flow problem caused by its unpaid receivables, which have struck an alarming level following years of tolerance shown towards clients, including public sector firms.

RAE decided to exercise its supervisory and regulatory rights because PPC’s amounts owed to the operators threaten their ability to operate and, by extension, the stability of the energy market as a whole.

HEDNO’s hearing at RAE is scheduled to take place this Friday. The operator, which handles payments to RES producers on the non-interconnected islands, will need to explain why it has not taken preventive action against PPC for its payment delays.

RES producers on the islands have lodged complaints noting that PPC is not relaying RES-supporting surcharges included on electricity bills in their entirety, as the utility ought to. Many RES investors face serious financial issues as a result of the payment delays.