Suppliers left with growing coffers in absence of new CATs

The country’s electricity suppliers have found themselves with unlikely coffers containing accumulating sums expected to eventually reach a grand total of 170 million euros as a result of a delay in the introduction of a new transitional flexibility mechanism.

Once this mechanism – rewarding producers for flexibility offered to the grid – is up and running, the accumulating amounts held by electricity suppliers will need to be relayed to electricity producers.

Electricity suppliers, who are continuing to collect these amounts as surcharges included on electricity bills, stopped relaying the respective amounts to electricity producers in April, when the validity of the previous transitional CAT mechanism expired.

According to recent reports, a further delay to the new mechanism’s introduction can be expected as the European Commission’s needed assessment of the Greek plan has been shifted to September. As a result, the new CATs cannot be expected to be introduced until late this year.

Energypress has estimated that the related amount held by electricity suppliers will have reached around 170 million euros by then.

These amounts are divided up for electricity producers, based on their respective market shares.

The main power utility PPC, whose retail electricity market share currently stands at 85 percent, is holding on to an equivalent share of the accumulating surcharge total, while the remainder sits in the coffers of the independent suppliers.

The Greek government would like a swift solution but officials in Brussels will seemingy require some time before endorsing the Greek plan.