Subsidy platform from June
Power consumers eligible for the retroactive subsidy of electricity bills the prime minister announced on Thursday will be able to submit their applications on an online platform that will open in early June, the government announced on Friday. The measure concerns bills issued from December 2021 to this month and will cover main-residence consumption in excess of 300 kilowatt-hours per month for households with a declared annual income of up to 45,000 euros.
This concerns 1.3 million consumers who will be able to apply for the subsidy – with a ceiling of €600 each – on the Gov.gr state portal. In their application they will have to declare their meter number and their bank account IBAN, while they will also have the opportunity to update the information on their main residence.
The platform will automatically draw the income data from Taxisnet, while from the power suppliers it will obtain the consumption figures, the subsidy already paid out for the first 300 KWh/month and the sum of discounts by suppliers, as well as their adjustment clause cost for those six months. From the total amount, the sum of subsidies and discounts will be deducted and 60% of the difference will be credited to consumers’ bank accounts up to 15 days after applying.
That practically means consumers without floating electricity rates (i.e. without an adjustment clause) will not get any extra subsidies, while PPC clients with floating rates will only get a small subsidy, as the utility already offers discounts for consumption of between 300 and 600 MWh.
Alternate Finance Minister Thodoros Skylakakis made it clear that the subsidy is protected from confiscation.
The total amount of the new support package for households and corporations, which the competent ministers explained on Friday, amounts to €3.2 billion for the rest of the year, with €1.1 billion of that to be covered by the state budget. The cost for the May and June power bill subsidies will reach €900 million.
Finance Minister Christos Staikouras also announced the extension to June of the diesel subsidy, at €0.15 per liter, for which the budget will pay €45 million.
