Renewable energy producers appear the likeliest market group to be affected by a government plan for electricity tariff hikes at the state-controlled power utility PPC, needed to boost revenues at the struggling utility, as, to protect consumers, these hikes will need to be offset by a reduction of a RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharge included on electricity bills.

All calculations strongly suggest that no other combination than a reduction of the ETMEAR surcharge is possible to avoid higher electricity prices for consumers.

Officials are scrambling for a finalized formula ahead of a September 24 report by Ernst & Young, PPC’s certified auditor, to avoid further bad news on the power utility’s condition.

Officials at the energy ministry, working on the plan daily, see a negative outcome for RES producers as the least detrimental alternative because they constitute a minority group of far less political cost compared to the country’s millions of electricity consumers.