Suppliers pressured by partial recovery of public service sums

Distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO has, since April last year, been partially covering monthly public service compensation (YKO) reimbursments entitled by the country’s electricity suppliers, a shortfall putting their budgets under pressure.

This deficit is expected to widen further over the coming months without any specific solution yet in place.

Electricity suppliers are recovering an average of between 60 and 65 percent of amounts they should be receiving, energypress sources have informed.

The public service compensation special account’s revenues have decreased as a result of a drop in wholesale electricity prices and retail electricity tariffs, but outlays subsidizing electricity used by consumers on the country’s non-interconnected islands and by low-income households have remained steady.

The country’s public service compensation special account entered deficit territory for the first time in April last year, and, as a consequence, as foreseen by sector regulations, DEDDIE/HEDNO has, over the past 11 months, been asking electricity retailers to partially cover amounts they should be receiving for public services. This essentially means electricity suppliers are financing public services with their own capital.

Consequently, respective amounts owed to suppliers are adding up to tens of millions of euros, a significant additional burden on their finances.

The public service compensation special account ended 2023 with a deficit of roughly 300 million euros, a level expected to be repeated this year.

The energy ministry is promoting a plan to divide this deficit into three sections so that it may be dealt with over as many years, beginning this year until 2026. The state budget would take on the biggest share, according to this plan, being discussed by the energy and national economy and finance ministries.

 

Protasis-Sagemcom victorious in smart meters extra tender

A joint bid by Greek company Protasis and France’s Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS appears to have emerged victorious in a supplementary tender staged by Greek electricity distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO for the installation of an initial lot of 360,000 low-voltage smart meters around the country, as an addition to 7.3 million smart meters planned through the project’s main tender.

The main tender still has a long way to go as technical and financial details included in bids submitted December 7 amount to hundreds of pages and represent a humongous task for officials. But the progress made with the supplementary tender comes as an encouraging sign.

The major tender’s anticipated delay prompted DEDDIE/HEDNO to announce its supplementary tender so that some progress can be made during the major tender’s appraisal period.

The same four bidders have submitted offers to both tenders. Besides the joint bid submitted by Protasis and Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS, US corporation Itron’s Spanish subsidiary, fellow US firm Elster Rometrics’ Romanian subsidiary, and Slovenia’s Iskraemeco submitted bids to both procedures.

This initial lot of 360,000 smart meters has been marked out for large-scale consumers as well as public-sector agencies and enterprises all over the country.

 

HEDNO legally shielded in case of transformer-upgrade effects

The energy ministry is preparing a legislative revision designed to offer distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO legal protection against transformer short circuits.

The revision, likely to be attached to a forthcoming urban planning bill, will oblige medium-voltage consumers to take appropriate action protecting their installations from damage that could be caused by short-circuit level increases.

DEDDIE/HEDNO is currently staging preliminary studies concerning an upgrade of the electrical distribution network’s transformers.

The energy ministry’s legislative revision will ensure that the distribution network operator will be spared of any legal issues should this upgrade have adverse effects on installations of medium-voltage consumers located up to 3 km from respective substations.

The ministry’s legislative revision will require consumers to inspect their electrical installations ahead of the operator’s upgrade of transformers. Should any issues be identified during these checks, consumers will need to replace any necessary equipment at their expense.

According to sector officials, the revision is essentially a precautionary measure as electrical equipment currently being used is relatively modern – less than 20 years old – with specifications to withstand increased short-circuiting levels.

Transformers in areas where investors have expressed interest to install RES facilities will be given priority by the distribution network operator during its upgrade process.

 

Suppliers’ windfall earnings estimated to reach €200m

Electricity supplier windfall earnings between August, 2022 and the end of 2023, the period during which energy-crisis measures were implemented, are expected to reach roughly 200 million euros, RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, has estimated.

The exact sum cannot yet be finalized as a couple more factors still need to be taken into account.

Power utility PPC still needs to provide RAAEY with related figures concerning the final quarter of 2023, while distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO must forward a “normalization coefficient” concerning megawatt-hour rates suppliers are charged each month based on declarations they submit to the energy exchange.

The bigger the normalization coefficient to be forwarded by DEDDIE/HEDNO to RAAEY, the lower the resulting windfall earnings will be.

Suppliers will need to make windfall-return payments over two installments, the first of which will represent 60 percent of their respective amounts.

The sums to be received, it has been decided, will be allocated almost exclusively to partially servicing debt owed by municipal water supply and sewerage companies (DEYA) to power utility PPC.

HEDNO retroactive clearance amounts put suppliers under pressure

The country’s independent electricity suppliers currently face a significant retroactive cost burden after having recently received final clearance requests for settlement of amounts owed to distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, which, in the case of the larger companies, exceed 10 million euros.

A normalization factor calculated by DEDDIE/HEDNO has resulted in a significant discrepancy between the quantities of electricity paid by suppliers while the normalization factor was applied in the first half of 2022, and the quantities determined now, based on the final settlement.

Additional kilowatt-hours will be charged at wholesale prices of the time, which are exorbitant, given that the energy crisis was at its peak in 2022. As a consequence, this will put some suppliers under financial pressure.

According to supply company officials, delays in the procedure for final settlements, beyond a prescribed one-year deadline, are also causing issues. Cases concerning the first half of 2022 should have been completed by the first half of 2023, they noted.

This delay effectively means that amounts requested cannot be recovered from consumers who actually consumed the energy in question. Moreover, many consumers may have changed supplier in the process.

 

 

Operator incentives for smart meters, dynamic tariffs nearing

Distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO will be offered incentive for swift progress on its installation of smart meters, to replace conventional power meters around the country, but will also face penalties for delays, according to energy ministry revisions made to Greece’s REPowerEU package.

According to the plan, the operator will gain from bonuses for swift roll-out of smart meters, while, in the case of delays, DEDDIE/HEDNO’s regulated earnings will be impacted.

The revisions also include a framework for the introduction of dynamic tariffs. Planned to be introduced during the second half of the year, these tariffs will offer low-voltage consumers equipped with smart meters the ability to take advantage of fluctuations in wholesale electricity prices.

For example, consumers will be able to schedule the use of as many appliances as possible at times of low wholesale electricity prices in order to reduce electricity bills, such as midday hours if solar energy production has struck high levels.

Dynamic tariffs, dubbed orange tariffs, will add to the range of tariff choices available to consumers under the country’s new tariff system, color-coding tariff categories for easier price-comparing ability.

Fixed tariffs, or blue tariffs, as well as variable tariffs, either yellow or green tariffs, were introduced January 1. Though yellow and green tariffs are both variable tariffs, the former are set at the end of each month, and, as a result, represent less of a risk for suppliers.

Bids submitted by all four first-round qualifiers to a tender being staged DEDDIE/HEDNO offering a lucrative contract for the installation of 7.3 million smart meters throughout the country are currently being assessed.

Grid fee hike if producers take on 50% of expansion costs

RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, has warned the energy ministry that a decision it has reached to make electricity producers responsible for half the cost of expanding electrical distribution and transmission networks would significantly increase regulated network usage surcharges included in electricity bills.

The authority forwarded a letter to the ministry last Thursday to highlight the dangers of this measure, which has been facilitated by a legislative revision ratified back in the summer of 2022.

Surcharges concerning the country’s transmission network, managed by power grid operator IPTO, would be particularly affected, RAAEY noted in its letter.

However, the distribution network, operated by DEDDIE/HEDNO, the distribution network operator, would be less exposed to surcharge increases as it caters to RES producers and concerns lines that do not serve consumers but are connected to privately owned high or medium-voltage substations, new or existing, as well as network extension projects of less than 100 meters in length for connecting individual generators.

Extra smart meters tender offers to be opened by Feb. 10

Bids submitted by four participants to a supplementary tender being staged by Greek electricity distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO for the installation of an initial lot of 360,000 low-voltage smart meters, as an addition to 7.3 million smart meters planned through the project’s main tender, are expected to be opened for appraisal towards the end of next week.

This initial lot of 360,000 smart meters has been marked out for large-scale consumers as well as agencies and enterprises of the public sector.

The appraisal procedure for offers submitted to the main tender, offering a lucrative 1.2 billion-euro contract for the installation of 7.3 million smart meters throughout the country, still has a long way to go. Technical and financial details in the bids, amounting to hundreds of pages, present a humongous task for officials.

The same four bidders have submitted offers to both tenders. Greek company Protasis, partnering with France’s Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS; US corporation Itron’s Spanish subsidiary; fellow US firm Elster Rometrics’ Romanian subsidiary; and Slovenia’s Iskraemeco make up the field of contestants.

A fifth participant, Landis+Gyr, was disqualified from the main tender’s first round after officials deemed the company breached the tender’s conditions and terms by declaring, as a sub-contractor, a production facility other than its Corinth plant, west of Athens, which serves as an international hub for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Landis+Gyr took legal action but the Council of State, Greece’s Supreme Administrative Court, rejected the case.

Following the court’s decision, the CEO of the company, Werner Lieberherr, stated he was suspending any further investments he had planned in Greece and would seek other countries for production.

 

 

RAAEY energy sufficiency plan for non-interconnected islands

The energy ministry is close to finalizing a plan to resolve energy sufficiency issues of Greece’s non-interconnected islands following a series of meetings and exchange of opinions with power utility PPC, power grid operator IPTO, distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, and RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, energypress sources have informed.

RAAEY, the sources noted, is currently preparing a plan for the ministry that contains details of a required legislative revision, which, when ratified, will enable PPC to proceed with its energy sufficiency plan for the non-interconnected islands.

The power utility has prepared a comprehensive plan designed to meet the needs of these islands until 2030, using everything from power coupling and gas turbines to batteries. The cost of these solutions is expected to range between 200 and 500 million euros, depending on the payback period and whether some units will be purchased, in addition to leases.

PPC has already reached an agreement with Greek construction and energy group GEK-TERNA for the purchase and transfer to Crete of the latter’s 147-MW gas-fired power plant, currently stationed in the Viotia area, northwest of Athens.

PPC, which has undertaken the task of ensuring energy sufficiency on Crete, plans to have the power plant transferred and reinstalled on the island in time for this coming summer, when energy demand typically peaks.

At a meeting chaired by the energy ministry, a decision was reached to cover 75 percent of the power plant’s remuneration through the public service compensation (YKO) account, accumulating related surcharges added to all electricity bills.

PPC developing into a southeast European force

Greek power utility PPC is establishing itself as a leading player in southeast Europe and the Balkans, an energy market offering the potential of roughly 40 million consumers, its top-ranked officials have told a Capital Markets Day event in London.

PPC’s leadership presented the energy group’s ambitious business plan, a nine billion-euro investment package, at the London event, staged yesterday, as a strategy through which the company will strive to capture a substantial share of the Balkan market.

The business plan includes development, between 2024 and 2026, of an 8.9-GW renewable energy portfolio, one of southeast Europe’s biggest, as well as an upgrading 381,000 kilometers of grid networks in Greece and Romania.

PPC’s business plan promises to place the company in a market quadruple the size of the Greek energy market.

PPC holds a 51 percent stake in Greek distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO and controls the distribution networks of three regions in Romania, including Bucharest, by far the country’s biggest.

Besides greater renewable energy interests, PPC also plans to soon offer a wide range of energy solutions for consumers, including smart-home products, home advisory services, and insurance packages, all of which will be available both in Greece, through the company’s fully-owned Kotsovolos electrical and electronics retail chain, as well as in neighboring markets through PPC’s associates.

Since its leadership change in the summer of 2019, when CEO Giorgos Stassis and his administrative team took charge, PPC has progressed from the brink of financial collapse to stability and growth, and is now in a commanding position in the Balkans. Analysts have not ruled out an upward revision of targets as a result of PPC’s potential.

PPC overachieved on its EBITDA target for 2023, which ended at 1.5 billion euros, well above a 1.1 billion-euro goal set in a 2020 business plan. This has led a growing number of analysts to believe that a 2.3 billion-euro EBITDA target set for 2026 could be achieved sooner.

PPC’s planned RES growth, to 8.9 GW by 2026, or 68 percent of the energy group’s production capacity, promises to secure greatly improved lending terms for the company, once one of Europe’s worst polluters.

PPC plans to shut down all of its existing lignite-fired power plants, totaling 1.5 GW, by 2026, which will slash the company’s CO2 emissions from 23.1 million tons in 2019 to 5.9 million tons in 2026. The energy group plans to continue operating its forthcoming Ptolemaida V power station for back-up services. It will initially operate as a low-emitting lignite-fired power station before eventually converting to natural gas.

RAAEY working on new version of ‘energy tourism’ restrictions

Residential electricity consumers will be permitted to change as many as three suppliers without having previously settled older energy bills or made installment-based payback arrangements, while business consumers will be set a two-supplier limit, according to a latest third version of upcoming rules intended to prevent consumers from abandoning suppliers despite owing electricity-bill amounts, a phenomenon locally dubbed “energy tourism”.

These limits for residential and business consumers will be applied retroactively, beginning January 1, 2020.

The new rules will also include a debt-flagging system on a collective platform maintained by distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, so that suppliers may be aware if prospective customers have been on the run.

Also, punctual customers will, as a reward, face less red tape if wanting to switch electricity suppliers.

RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, is now working on the latest revisions to the plan, which, once completed, will be forwarded to the energy ministry for implementation.

 

Second-round bids for smart meters undergoing assessment

Bids submitted by all four first-round qualifiers to a tender being staged by Greek electricity distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO offering a lucrative contract for the installation of 7.3 million smart meters throughout the country are currently being assessed.

Participants submitted their bids for this major project, budgeted at 1.2 billion euros, on December 7. The appraisal process of technical and financial details in the bids, amounting to hundreds of pages, is a humongous task.

Officials are striving for the installation of a first wave of smart meters as soon as possible. The project, one of Greece’s biggest of recent times, is planned to be completed over a series of stages by late 2030.

Greek company Protasis, partnering with France’s Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS; US corporation Itron’s Spanish subsidiary; fellow US firm Elster Rometrics’ Romanian subsidiary; and Slovenia’s Iskraemeco make up the field of contestants.

Ministry looking into virtual net metering issues raised

Virtual net metering functional issues affecting energy communities, according to two local consumer groups, are currently being examined, while immediate regulatory action will be taken if deemed necessary, deputy energy minister Alexandra Sdoukou has informed.

The consumer support groups, Electra Energy and Ekpoizo, recently forwarded a joint letter to point out problems faced by energy communities. The issue was also raised in Parliament by main opposition party Syriza’s energy-sector head, Miltos Zamparas.

Energy communities and their members have faced issues around the country for quite some time as a virtual net metering model has not been properly implemented, the Syriza party official told Parliament, while calling for the immediate intervention of RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, and the energy ministry.

Many energy community members have complained that electricity  suppliers are not complying with terms, also contending communication with distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO and suppliers has been poor.

As a result of these functional issues, energy community members are reportedly incurring losses as their electricity bill costs are not being offset, which defeats the purpose of establishing energy communities in the first place.

Virtual net metering links scattered operations to just one electricity meter to offset the cost of electricity supplied by the power utility with electricity produced by self-production for the grid.

Small-scale Cyclades PVs nearing readiness to operate

Small-scale RES projects of up to 400 kW that had undergone a bidding process for tariffs through a RES auction organized by the distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO to cover the Cyclades, along with equivalent auctions for projects in the Peloponnese and Crete, are nearing readiness for operation.

A follow-up procedure offering finalized connection terms to these Cyclades RES projects has begun and is expected to be completed next week, when all 51 projects for which successful bids had been submitted to the Cyclades auction should have received their connection terms, energypress sources informed. These 51 projects represent a total capacity of 18 MW, the sources added.

The energy ministry, as previously reported, has decided to end administratively-set tariffs for small-scale RES projects a year ahead of schedule. A relevant bill is expected to soon be submitted to Parliament.

Under the resulting system, investors behind new RES projects will need to participate in RES auctions to secure their tariffs, which will be lower compared to administratively-set tariffs.

However, small-scale RES projects in the Cyclades will be exempted from the new system and will still be able to secure administratively-set tariff agreements with DAPEEP, the RES market operator. These projects will also be exempted from substantial grid-injection cut rules.

The outcome of RES auctions concerning small-scale projects in the Peloponnese and Crete has been put on hold in anticipation of a court ruling following charges filed by plaintiffs alleging foul play.

Power bill surcharges left unchanged, budget money needed for special a/c deficits

RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, has decided to keep unchanged, for 2024, two surcharges included in electricity bills, a RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharge as well as an YKO surcharge supporting public service compensation.

The authority, whose decisions, taken to protect electricity consumers from higher energy costs, has called for budget funds to be used to cover any resulting deficits to the special accounts for renewable energy and public service compensation.

RES market operator DAPEEP and distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, respectively managing RES and public service compensation special accounts, have both forecast account deficits for 2024.

According to sources, public service compensation special account data forwarded by DEDDIE/HEDNO to RAAEY showed a 300 million-euro deficit for 2023 and forecast an equivalent deficit for 2024.

The deficits have been mainly attributed to energy-crisis electricity subsidies offered to all consumers through funds transferred from the public service compensation special account to the Energy Transition Fund.

According to ESPEN, the Greek Energy Suppliers Association, a sum of 460 million euros was transferred to the Energy Transition Fund from the public service compensation special account between August, 2022 and April, 2023.

DAPEEP, the RES market operator managing the RES special account, informed RAAEY of a 196.74 million-euro deficit for 2023, sources informed.

RAAEY decided to keep the RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharge unchanged for 2024, at 17 euros per MWh, based on a wholesale electricity price average scenario of 111 euros per MWh for this year, which, according to the operator, would result in a RES special account surplus of 6.55 million euros at the end of 2024.

However, the wholesale electricity price average for 2024 will most likely end up below the 111 euros per MWh and result in a RES special account deficit.

The country’s wholesale electricity price has averaged approximately 100 euros per MWh since last summer.

TSOs preparing power sufficiency plans for the islands

The country’s TSOs are planning a transitional strategy ensuring electricity supply for the country’s non-interconnected islands still not linked to the mainland grid, as well as a second plan that would boost production capacity and serve as back-up once subsea cable interconnections linking non-interconnected islands have begun operating.

The transitional plan, the most urgent of the two initiatives, is the responsibility of distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO and concerns providing energy coverage for islands to be interconnected as part of the fourth phase of the Cyclades interconnections, plus the Dodecanese and northeast Aegean islands, until power grid operator IPTO has completed its interconnection projects linking all these regions with the mainland.

Development of these projects will need to be synchronized with power utility PPC’s gradual withdrawal of old power plants it operates on islands, when they experience functional issues. Spare parts for these units, now outdated, are difficult to find.

PPC intends to gradually withdraw 32 old power plants with a total capacity of approximately 50 MW from non-interconnected islands. The power utility will do likewise with old facilities on Crete.

New energy self-consumption framework within 1Q of ‘24

The country’s updated regulatory framework covering energy self-consumption has been included in REPowerEU revisions made by the energy ministry and will be activated by the issuance of a related ministerial decision expected within the first quarter of 2024.

The energy ministry will seek to have the ministerial decision issued before March, energypress sources informed.

The series of energy self-consumption revisions include a 100-KW net metering limit, from 3 MW, for large-scale enterprises.

In the lead-up, distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO stopped accepting grid connection applications for net-metering PVs with capacities of over 100 KW.

As a result, companies needing to install higher-capacity RES systems must wait for the launch of net-billing as a solution. It promises real-time self-generation along with the sale of surplus energy.

The new self-production framework will also enable companies not possessing free space for PV installations to utilize solar energy through virtual net-billing solutions, or offsite PVs situated in other regions.

 

Sub-station upgrades to maximize RES grid connections

Distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO is closely examining the country’s power grid to determine which sub-stations it will choose to upgrade, the objective being to offer grid links to a greater number of RES projects.

The operator also intends to upgrade sub-stations in areas where investment interest for RES installations is high.

Grid capacity limits are already exhausted in areas where RES development has been extensive, especially when concerning RES technologies other than photovoltaics.

As part of the upgrade, the operator intends to modernize all necessary equipment at each substation, the cost of which it considers manageable.

Also, the operator will carry out studies to determine necessary network interventions close to each substation, especially replacement of conductors with small cross sections.

All 4 second-round qualifiers submit bids for smart meters

All four final-round qualifiers in a tender being staged by Greek electricity distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO to offer a lucrative contract for the installation of 7.3 million smart meters throughout the country have submitted bids, indicating competition will be intense.

Greek company Protasis, partnering with France’s Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS; US corporation Itron’s Spanish subsidiary; fellow US firm Elster Rometrics’ Romanian subsidiary; and Slovenia’s Iskraemeco submitted technical and financial bids by a December 7 deadline that had been set by the operator.

The plan to install smart meters throughout the country, a project budgeted at 1.2 billion euros, ranks as one of Greece’s biggest projects of recent times.

The next stage of the tender will entail establishing an assessment committee that will examine the bids, their letters of guarantee, along with all technical and financial details. This evaluation process will require at least one month to be completed as the overall content amounts to several hundred pages.

The operator has also moved ahead with a supplementary tender to offer an additional contract for swifter installation of a smaller number of low-voltage smart meters, approximately 360,000 in total. The country’s authorities are seeking to have an initial batch of smart meters installed as soon as possible.

The four final-round qualifiers have been set a December 14 deadline for bids concerning this supplementary tender.

Besides offering multiple benefits for consumers, such as dynamic electricity tariffs, transparency and savings, smart meters will also offer the operator a digital map instantly locating technical faults and electricity-theft points.

Technology enabling offsite RES-injection cuts considered

The energy ministry is considering to promote more extensive use of remote technology that would enable distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO to cut and restrict grid injections of renewable energy output from offsite locations.

The plan would oblige both DEDDIE/HEDNO and PV units with capacities of over 400 KW to install remote systems enabling the operator to control RES production injected into the grid via offsite management.

At present, DEDDIE/HEDNO is able to remotely manage grid-injection curtailment for a RES portfolio of about 1.5 GW from approximately 5.8 GW in RES projects in operation. As for the remainder, cuts can currently only be made onsite by operator crews.

As part of the overall plan, the energy ministry intends to offer compensation packages to investors behind RES units that would be required to install remote technology systems for grid-injection cuts.

Project group to prepare framework for RES output cuts

A project management group recently founded by the energy ministry will, as its first task, prepare a recommendation for the ministry concerning the establishment of framework regulating green-energy output cuts over a long-term period, meeting the grid’s needs and further RES penetration for at least ten to fifteen years.

The group, led by head coordinator Stavros Papathanasiou, professor at the National Technical University of Athens, includes officials from the energy ministry, energy exchange, power grid operator IPTO, distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, and RES market operator DAPEEP.

The proposed permanent framework is expected to distribute RES output cuts across various project categories.

The group will also consider whether RES projects not injecting output into the system should be compensated, under specific terms and conditions.

Public service compensation a/c deficit widens to €200m

The public service compensation (YKO) special account’s deficit has continued to widen since falling into deficit territory for the first time last April, recording, at the time, a 5 million-euro deficit that has since widened, reaching approximately 200 million euros in September, prompting the need for action.

The energy ministry plans to resort to the Energy Transition Fund for an emergency fund injection into the public service compensation special account in order to ensure its sustainability. Such an initiative action would spare the ministry from having to increase public service compensation surcharges included in electricity bills in order to cover the account’s existing deficit.

The emergency financing measure will be preceded by a relevant new survey from RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, to be delivered to the energy ministry. It will be based on revised calculations to be carried out by distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, managing the public service compensation special account.

Previous DEDDIE/HEDNO calculations forwarded to RAAEY had projected a 37 million-euro deficit for the public service compensation special account at the end of the year, a figure that will need to be revised, given the latest indications.

Public service compensation is paid by all consumers as electricity bill surcharges in order to help subsidize higher energy costs on the islands and support social policy for low-income households eligible for lower tariffs. Public service compensation payments by consumers are transferred to the public service compensation (YKO) special account.

HEDNO to legally challenge RAAEY fine imposed for PV auction issues

Distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO plans to take legal action challenging a fine of one million euros imposed by RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, for problems concerning how two auctions offering connection terms for solar power units in the Peloponnese and Crete were conducted, the operator’s top official has noted in a statement addressed to parliament.

The operator does not accept the RAAEY decision and will challenge it in the legally prescribed manner, stated Anastasios Manos, chief executive officer of DEDDIE/HEDNO, in response to a question posed by the main opposition leftist Syriza party.

DEDDIE/HEDNO also believes the RAAEY fine does not annul the auctions and intends to continue and complete its processing of applications for the Peloponnese and Crete networks, both saturated, the CEO noted.

The operator considers that it has taken all possible measures to ensure the auction’s platform functions properly, stressing it has fully complied with a relevant circular issued.

 

Industry partially satisfied with gov’t energy-cost strategy

SEV, the Hellenic Association of Industrialists, has expressed partial satisfaction over government action aiming to reduce energy costs for energy-intensive industries.

Energy minister Thodoris Skylakakis has reportedly pledged to meet as many industrial-sector requests as possible, even within the remainder of 2023.

These requests include a CO2 cost-offsetting mechanism between 2021 and 2030; a two-year extension, covering 2024 and 2025, of a Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework adopted by the EU as economic support for member states following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; as well as a demand response mechanism rewarding flexibility.

However, the ministry does not appear keen to act on requests made by Greek industry for a reduction of grid and distribution network usage surcharges imposed by power grid operator IPTO and distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, respectively.

Further industrial-sector requests for connection-term priority concerning green-energy PPAs and an end to a transit fee on gas from Bulgaria also seem unlikely to be accepted by the ministry.

 

‘Red status’ after two unpaid bills for debt-flagging system

A debt-flagging system being prepared by the energy ministry for the retail electricity market as a means of countering roving consumers who switch suppliers and escape from unsettled electricity bills would relegate consumers with two successive unpaid bills into a red zone, entitling suppliers to take action by requesting power supply cuts from the operator, the ministry appears to have decided.

Energy minister Thodoris Skylakakis held a meeting yesterday with officials from RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, and distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO to discuss details of the debt-flagging system.

Consumers in the red-zone category would only be allowed to switch suppliers if their existing supplier refrains from disrupting their power supply.

Also, consumers would be removed from the red-zone category if they settle overdue amounts or begin servicing them through installment-based payback plans, according to the ministry’s plan.

The ministry is striving to finalize the plan’s shape as soon as possible as it aims to present it within October.

Over 30,000 consumers are believed to owe electricity-bill amounts to more than one supplier, according to ministry estimates.

Unpaid receivables, market officials estimate, have ballooned to approximately one billion euros. The sum has risen sharply since July, 2022, when consumers were given the freedom to switch suppliers even if owing amounts to previous suppliers.

Debt-flagging system needs more work, ministry decides

A debt-flagging system being prepared by the energy ministry for the retail electricity market as a means of countering roving consumers who switch suppliers and escape from unsettled electricity bills requires further development, the ministry has decided.

Details still needed to finalize the plan, part of wider revisions to the supply code, will be discussed at an energy ministry meeting on Thursday to involve representatives of RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, and distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, to manage the debt-flagging system.

DEDDIE/HEDNO has requested a limit to its responsibility for the system as the operator will have no way of cross-examining the validity of data posted by suppliers. This is one of the draft’s needed improvements that will be discussed at Thursday’s meeting.

The aim is to establish clear-cut rules on customer switching in order to protect suppliers, hit by a sharp rise in bad debt. Customer credibility will be signified through a color-based ranking system.

An additional meeting could be required next week. The energy ministry wants all revisions finalized within the next couple of weeks so that it can present an upgraded supply code before the end of October.

Debt-flagging system for electricity market ‘imminent’

A debt-flagging system to be made available to electricity suppliers as part of an effort to counter serial electricity-bill defaulters could be ready imminently, within the next month or two, officials at distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO and RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, agreed during a meeting on Wednesday that included electricity supplier representatives as observers.

RAAEY presented a comprehensive plan for the development of a debt-flagging system, which DEDDIE/HEDNO officials ascertained could be ready for launch one to two months from now, sources informed.

However, DEDDIE/HEDNO clarified that it cannot take any responsibility for data to be posted on the debt-flagging system as it has no way of verifying its validity, the sources added.

As this data will be provided by electricity suppliers, establishing a transparent formula is crucial to ensure the operator will not be held accountable in the event that a consumer is erroneously marked as delinquent in the system due to a supplier’s mistake, and, as a result, suffers unjust repercussions without actually having outstanding debts.

Electricity suppliers are facing a surge in bad debts resulting from customers who opt to switch companies and leave behind unpaid bills, while just one in ten non-punctual consumers who have been blacklisted by suppliers and subsequently resorted to the country’s universal electricity supply service – offered, by law, by the top five suppliers – are paying fees for this service.

HEDNO liability for universal service abusers considered

The energy ministry is open to discussing further a proposal by ESAI/HAIPP, the Hellenic Association of Independent Power Producers, that calls for distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO to take on the representation and cost of electricity consumers who abuse the country’s universal electricity supply service.

It is offered, by law, by the top five electricity suppliers, based on market share, as a last-resort service to non-punctual consumers who have been blacklisted by suppliers.

ESAI/HAIPP officials held talks last week with the energy ministry’s leadership on next-step measures that could be taken if a time-limit for the service, now being discussed, has been exhausted by universal service users.

Just one in ten consumers resorting to the universal electricity supply service are paying their fees, it was recently revealed.

The cost of these payment failures, along with the cost of electricity theft, is initially covered by electricity suppliers, who, in turn, pass on the financial damage to paying consumers.

Operator HEDNO fined €1m by RAAEY for PV auction issues

Distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO has been handed a fine of 1 million euros by RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, over irregularities at PV auctions offering connection terms for the networks of the Peloponnese and Crete, which, the authority noted, were caused by the operator’s failure to ensure bidders conditions of equality and transparency during the auction, held online between October 21 and 25 last year.

The operator has the right to appeal within a 30-day period of publication or notification of the decision.

The energy ministry now faces the task of needing to manage this potentially contentious issue, as investors are believed to be preparing to take legal action against the operator.

Electricity debt-flagging details discussed by officials today

The technical details and preparation time for a prospective debt-flagging system to be made available to electricity suppliers as part of an effort to counter strategic electricity bill evaders will be discussed at a meeting today between RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy, and officials of distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, to manage the new system.

Representatives of independent suppliers and power utility PPC are anticipated to take part in today’s meeting, serving as a follow-up to a broader industry-wide discussion regarding electricity bill evasion that took place last week.

It was decided, during last week’s meeting, that RAAEY would provide  the energy ministry, by October 20, with a proposal for a revision to Article 42 of the supply code in the electricity market. This revision will aim to prevent strategic defaulters who owe unsettled amounts from switching to new electricity suppliers without addressing their outstanding bills.

RAAEY will use, as a template, a preceding plan it had prepared and delivered to the energy ministry in the spring of 2021, following three rounds of consultation.

ESPEN, the Greek Energy Suppliers Association, plans, this week, to submit to RAAEY a proposal seeking to allow electricity suppliers to discontinue supply to customers who have two overdue electricity bills, energypress sources informed.