Scenes from Dario Fo’s Pharmacopoeia “I do not pay, I do not pay” with references to the 70’s, when in Italy people frustrated by the sharp rise in prices begin to meet their needs for products and services refusing to pay, come to life inside and the surrounding energy market.
Electricity suppliers do not pay municipalities and they find it difficult to pay for water and street lighting. The suppliers also do not pay the managers and they in turn the electricity producers.
A number of more than 150,000 consumers who are part of the Universal Service, ie consumers to whom the supply contract has been terminated because they do not serve their obligations, pay… whenever… for the electricity they consume, accumulating a total amount of outstanding debts over EUR 50 million. Electricity supply companies are unable to collect debts from the above consumers because they can not identify a large number of debtors to send them the bill. They do not have an address or VAT number, because the electricity network operator, HEDNO, does not have the data – as it should – to send it to the energy providers.
The Energy Regulatory Authority (RAE) tries to put things in order by imposing fines in the case of HEDNO or by issuing final decisions, as in the case of the three EDA (Gas Distribution Companies), but which they refuse to comply with because they simply assess that είναι many money that must be returned, in this case to the industry that is struggling to survive in order to cope with the high electricity prices.
1. Industry and Gas Distribution Companies
The latter case concerns a case dating back to August 2015, when a horizontal charge of a temporary distribution fee of 4 euros / MWh was imposed by law on industry. EVIKEN (Association of Industrial Energy Consumers) made an official complaint to the EU in July 2016. requesting the annulment of the relevant regulation on the grounds that it violates European Directive 2009/73 and Law 4001/2011. At the same time, he addressed RAE requesting in view of the determination of a final distribution fee with effect from 1.12.2016 to decide on compensation for the industry. After a long correspondence with the Commission, in August 2020 RAE issued a decision to return a total amount of 4 million euros from the three EDA (Attica, Thessaloniki and DEDA) in interest-free installments within five years. Although the decision of RAE approving the repayable amounts is immediately enforceable from 1.11.2021, the operators of the distribution networks, according to EVIKEN, refuse to comply with the operative part of the decision. The three companies submitted a request for review of the decision to RAE in December, which was rejected, and then submitted an application for annulment to the CoC and the administrative court of appeals, and at the same time for a week requested a temporary suspension of the decision. The case concerns more than 200 industries, with EVIKEN talking about an “open attack on the industry by the administrations of the gas distribution networks in the midst of a crisis”.
Two energy providers are reportedly holding back even state subsidies.
2. The Universal Service, Elpedison, HEDNO and the RAE fine
Following a complaint from Elpedison, RAE last October imposed a fine of 250,000 euros on HEDNO and at the same time proceeded with a strict recommendation of compliance immediately with the observance of the obligation to provide customer data that fall under the Universal Service status. This regime is provided by law and concerns consumers for whom the supply contracts have been terminated because they do not serve their obligations. Until a few years ago, the role of the universal provider was served exclusively by PPC. By ministerial decision, the duties of universal provider for a period of two years were assigned to the five largest suppliers, to whom customers were transferred in proportion to their market shares. The distribution of customers is done by HEDNO, which must send complete details of the customers who have joined the specific service to the providers. Elpedison in March 2021 filed a complaint against HEDNO, according to which the delay in providing data to the relevant customer base makes it difficult to bill 1,400 customers, who are electrified free of charge with a large loss, while it does not have VAT for about 25% new customers under this scheme. In addition, HEDNO has rejected meter deactivation requests in almost half of the cases, arguing that there was another deactivation request from the previous provider. “We did not give all the information because we do not have it. We are in the process of updating the customer register in collaboration with RAE and AADE “, circles of HEDNO state in” K “.
3. Providers who do not… go out to pay for the electric shock to municipalities and administrators
The Central Union of Greek Municipalities (KEDE) estimates the amounts withheld for five years from the collection of municipal fees by five supply companies at over 70 million. The issue was raised yesterday to the Minister of Finance, Christos Staikoura, and yesterday to the Minister of Environment and Energy, Costas Skrekas, with the president of KEDE and mayor of Trikala, Dimitris Papastergiou, requesting the removal of licenses from providers in cases where . After the meeting with the minister, RAE with an urgent letter to all suppliers requests a full report per month and per municipality from January 2021 to January 2022 for the amounts payable to the municipalities and the amounts that have been returned. In fact, the data must be delivered by today.
Suppliers are not only indebted to municipalities. On February 3, the new outstanding debts from five companies in the sector to HEDNO exceeded 20 million euros, while debts over 120 million euros were in settlement on the same date. Two companies in the sector are said to be withholding even state subsidies, while HEDNO since September has started sending out-of-court payments for the collection of outstanding payments and is even considering the possibility of forfeiture of letters of guarantee in some cases. Things are expected to get difficult in the coming months, as the first delays in paying electricity bills by home consumers and businesses began to be recorded in December.
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