New RAE board members soon, candidacies due today

Candidates seeking three vacant board positions, of seven in total, at RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, have until today to submit their applications.

The authority has been left with four board members since Tuesday as the terms of three officials, Nikos Boulaxis (photo), the former chief, his deputy Sotiris Manolkidis and board member Nektaria Karakatsani, have all ended.

The government is expected to move swiftly to decide on its proposal for new director at RAE, energypress sources informed. Boulaxis is not running for an additional term.

Talks have already begun in search of a date when the new RAE board will be presented, by law, to Greek Parliament’s permanent committee on institutions and transparency.

RAE’s board members are selected by the energy minister before proposed to this committee for appointment. The committee is usually given a 30-day period to discuss the proposals, but, in this case, procedures are expected to be swift.

Decisions on the RAE board’s new faces could be reached as soon as this weekend, sources informed.

Local committees to discuss NECP ahead of its finalization

The new National Energy and Climate Plan will be presented to two parliamentary committees this Friday as part of wider consultation being staged by the energy ministry, including a recent presentation to energy sector officials at an event hosted by the Bank of Greece and ongoing public consultation, ending December 16.

The two committees, the Standing Committee on Production and Trade and the Special Permanent Committee on Environmental Protection, will discuss the NECP this Friday as part of preparations ahead of the plan’s upcoming delivery to the European Commission.

Certain interventions made so far have been deemed constructive by the energy ministry and will be incorporated into the plan.

A finalized NECP could be forwarded to the European Commission before Christmas. If not, Brussels will definitely receive the plan before the end of the year.

Last week, deputy energy minister Gerassimos Thomas presented the key objectives of Greece’s new NECP to peers in Brussels. He emphasized that many of the Greek plan’s goals will seek to exceed targets that will soon be announced by the European Commission’s new administration.