By Penelope Galliou

With the rally in the prices of the wholesale energy market continuing, giving rise to fears among households and consumers about what the prices will reach in the electricity tariffs, the prime minister called an emergency meeting at Megaros Maximos this morning at 10.00 in order to put on the carpet and from in common with the political leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, the discrepancies in its wholesale prices electricity. The meeting is expected to focus on developments, as they have been taking shape lately, the available plans to stop the rise at the national level, but also any update of the initiatives against a possible prolonged wave of increases, with government actors leaving all possibilities open, even and new support for households and businesses, if the conditions that make a state intervention necessary arise.

“The government is examining all the data and all the parameters regarding electricity prices,” said a government source, recalling that in much more difficult energy times, the government acted in support of households and businesses, more than any other country.

Although the situation in the energy market has already been assessed by the government staff and the assessment has been expressed that the summer months will be more difficult in the energy sector, it is not considered that we will again see prices that consumers saw a year and a half ago before. In any case, according to government sources, if the conditions arise and the need arises for new support for households or businesses due to excessive increases, the state will again be present.

However, under the new data, the possibility of re-taxing the surplus profits of electricity producers is back on the table, as well as the possibility of subsidizing household electricity bills. This is because recently there have been strong fluctuations in the electricity market, with a typical example of intraday deviations, of the order of 450 – 500 euros, from the lowest to the highest price. Thus, the government and the Ministry of Environment and Energy are said to estimate that the price discrepancies in the last 24 hours, create conditions suitable for excessive profits in the electricity production companies.

“We are not going to leave anyone helpless, be it a household or a business. That is the given. We are monitoring the issue, we are measuring the data and prices month by month and we are considering every possibility,” the government representative said while briefing political editors, leaving all possibilities open.