With temperatures expected to drop even further this winter and an emergent environmental and health catastrophe, the Ministry of the Environment is looking into options in order to ensure that vulnerable households retain their electricity supply.
One of the Minister Yannis Maniatis’ proposals is to introduce a 50-cent levy on all DEI customers in order to cover the cost of reconnection to the power grid and electricity of vulnerable households. Mr. Maniatis clarified that free electricity would be available to households already on DEI’s social tariffs and municipal welfare lists.
This however poses a number of challenges for the government, as many households are connected to DEI’s power grid under the name of the property owner, which in turn means that many DEI customers do not appear to qualify for the social tariff.
Prior to the 50-cent levy, Mr. Maniatis proposed that municipal authorities take it upon themselves to cover the cost of reconnecting to the power grid and paying the electricity bills. While a number of Mayors took such an initiative, the mayor of Thessaloniki Yannis Boutaris called this solution “the worst kind of charity” and that “instead of handouts, we must help people make a decent living”.
The Mayor of Athens Giorgos Kaminis also slammed the proposal on SKAI TV this morning, arguing that not all municipalities are in the position to cover the cost. Mr. Kaminis also stressed that the electricity supply of poor families must not be cut off.
The Minister of the Environment has stated that the government will attempt to reconnect 10,000 to 15,000 households to the power grid by Christmas. To that end, he has asked for municipal authorities to quickly compose lists of household without an electrical supply, so that it can act immediately.
Meanwhile DEI has addressed the Regional Governors and the Central Union of Municipalities (KEDE) to form special committees, which will be instructed on how to document households without electricity. DEDDIE, the electricity distribution network operator, clarified that it will not charge for reconnections to the power grid.
