RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, is preparing to reduce a RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharge level as of January 1 as the RES special account deficit will have been zeroed out by the end of December.

If maintained at its present level the ETMEAR surcharge would produce a RES special account surplus. According to energypress sources, the surcharge will not be abolished but reduced to a level that will still produce a surplus, the objective being to use this excess sum to swiften payments of amounts owed by LAGIE, the Electricity Market Operator, to RES investors.

The upcoming ETMEAR surcharge revision is one of a few imminent changes that promise to reshape the retail electricity market.

A revision is also in the making for a supplier surcharge, whose introduction over a year ago proved instrumental in helping to wipe out the RES special account deficit. Authorities are looking to revise the formula used to calculate this surcharge, which should lead to a surcharge reduction.

The state-controlled main power utility PPC, still maintaining a dominant retail electricity market share of approximately 83 percent, has strongly opposed the supplier surcharge – the utility is primarily responsible for its coverage as the surcharge is calculated according to market shares – but the energy ministry insists it will remain, even if at a lower level. The level of this reduction will most likely be established within December so that the related ETMEAR surcharge may be reset accordingly to its new level for 2018.

In another possible market change, PPC is facing pressure from Brussels over a 15 percent discount it offers to customers paying electricity bills on time. The country’s lenders have often noted the utility’s pricing policy is obstructing the retail electricity market’s further liberalization. The issue is currently being looked at by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition.