very low prices, as these will from now on reflect
generation costs, while alternative suppliers will
be able to compete with the incumbent.
The price hikes, starting from January 1st, in
accordance with the provisions of the new
Memorandum, will be completed in three rounds.
The second round has been scheduled for May 1
and the third for July 1.
According to the political leadership of the
MEECC, first-round price increases range from
8.6% to 12.76% for home consumers, farmers, as
well as commercial and industrial enterprises
connected to the low-voltage grid.
At the same time, the MEECC leadership amend-
ed the criteria for the inclusion of socially vulner-
able groups to the Social Price Schedule for
T
he privatization of the incumbent, the
Public Power Corporation (PPC) is also
expected to be set in motion during the
year. At the same time, investor involvement in
the Renewable Energy Sources sector is imped-
ed by the government’s decision to impose an
extraordinary tax on generated power, in order to
cope with the deficits in the electricity market.
More specifically, as far as the electricity market
is concerned, the Ministry for the Environment,
Energy and Climate Change (MEECC) and the
Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE)
announced –also based on the troika’s demands–
the first set of low-voltage price hikes, leading to
full low-voltage price deregulation in July. This
way, the PPC loses the prerogative of charging
Trade with Greece
84
Energy market
priorities
The completion of the electricity market’s
deregulation, the privatization of the Public
Gas Corporation (DEPA) and the
developments regarding hydrocarbon
exploration in Greece, are expected to
monopolize the interest of the domestic
energy market during 2013.
By Christos Colonas
