Greece power producer windfall tax for household consumers subsidy
Business
Move aimed at helping people facing cost-of-living crisis amid persistent inflation
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis says people will bear the burden unless government takes measures after electricity prices surged in recent weeks
Conservative government last month extended a windfall tax on energy companies for 2023, aiming to raise some 300m euros to support low-income pensioners
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece will impose a one-off windfall tax on its power producers over the next two months and use the proceeds to help subsidise electricity bills for households already strained by a cost-of-living crisis, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Tuesday.
Wholesale electricity prices have surged in recent weeks, and Mitsotakis said consumers would bear the burden unless the government takes measures.
"Therefore, the government has decided to impose a one-off levy on gas-fired power producers and use the proceeds to be able to alleviate electricity bills in August," he said in an interview with Skai TV.
The energy ministry is expected to announce details of the plan on Wednesday.
Greece has experienced higher temperatures this summer after its warmest winter on record, weather conditions which scientists have linked to climate change.
Power consumption has increased over the past few months in Greece and other countries in Europe whose power grids are interconnected, leading to short supplies and higher prices.
Mitsotakis said the higher prices reflected a distorted European power market, adding that Greece needs to act pending a European Union solution.
Last month, the conservative government extended a windfall tax on energy companies for 2023, aiming to raise some 300 million euros to support low-income pensioners.
