Greek Homeowners, Businesses to Get More Energy Bill Relief in September

Greek Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas.

Some 6 million homeowners and 1.2 million businesses in Greece faced with repeatedly increasing electricity bills will receive double the aid offered in previous months for September, Greek Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas announced on Tuesday.

More specifically, Skrekas said the government will subsidize homes and businesses irrelevant of income who have been impacted by soaring fuel and energy costs with a total of 1.9 billion euros for September.

The aid, to be incorporated into electricity bills, amounts to 639 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) for monthly household electricity consumption compared to 337 euros/MWh offered this month.

The minister said the government will absorb 94 percent of the cost of electricity hikes for households, 89 percent for small and medium-sized enterprises with a subsidy of 604 euros and 90 percent (639 euros) for farmers.

An example: a medium-sized business will end up paying 392 euros for 2,000 KWh/month usage compared to 1,600 euros.

“We are going to have a winter full of challenges and difficulties in terms of supply sufficiency and energy prices,” said Skrekas, adding that the government was “determined to continue protecting consumers”.

So far, a total of 8 billion euros have gone in to power subsidies for Greek households, businesses and farmers. In June, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a 3.2-billion-euro energy scheme that included rebates on electricity bills for May, June and July. Other support actions included the Fuel Pass 1-2 covering rising fuel prices.

In the meantime, Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras confirmed that the government would continue to provide support based on developments and that a full set of support measures would be presented by Mitsotakis during the 86th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) next month.