Industrialists attack PPC’s new tariffs
Senior Greek industrialists on Wednesday accused the Public Power Corporation (PPC) of undermining the country’s economic recovery by doing little if anything do reduce the high cost of electricity.
“I am under the impression that PPC and ministers’ advisers think we are idiots. We have tried to explain that we bring liquidity from exports, we invest, we did not cut wages or lay off staff and PPC is sticking to the high charges,” said Constantinos Katsaros, managing director of Elval, a major exporter of aluminum rolled products.
Speakers at a press conference organized by the Association of Industrial Energy Consumers (EVIKEN) said far from lightening the burden, PPC’s new tariffs, announced last Friday, effectively represented a new hike in the cost of power for the country’s 15 energy-intensive, high-voltage industrial consumers which form the backbone of Greek industry.
They pointed out that the cost of electricity for Greek manufacturers is 75 euros per megawatt, when the respective rates are 49.70 euros/MW in Germany and 42 euros/MW in France.
Critics further argued that if energy costs were reduced by 10 euros/MW, Greek industry would remain competitive and achieve a major boost in employment. However, the reductions recently announced by PPC amounted to only 4 euros/MW and were almost entirely directed to the country’s 58 medium-voltage consumers who thus realized a 6 percent reduction.
Responding to the criticism, PPC said the new tariffs, which included state levies and taxes, were set following intensive consultations so as to reflect the particular requirements of the various branches of industry.
