Reconnection hotline for the vulnerable
The government is about to create an “energy solidarity” hotline that citizens from vulnerable social groups will be able to call for the immediate reconnection of their power supply and heat their homes during the winter, Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas revealed in an interview with Kathimerini.
He explained that the cost of electricity supply and reconnection for this particular category of consumers will come to 40 million euros and will be covered by the Energy Transition Fund that was recently created in the context of the government’s social policy measures, aimed at containing the impact of energy rate hikes.
Skrekas acknowledged that any estimate about the length of the crisis is impossible at the moment, but stressed that its extent is such that no government can tackle it alone: “There should be a timely and joint European response,” he said, in line with the proposal Athens submitted this month to European authorities.
He also announced a rise in the budget ceiling and the maximum cost per material for the new ”Exoikonomo” home improvement subsidy program, to respond to the increase in the prices of raw materials.