The cost of electricity is expected to fluctuate close to February levels in March, remaining under pressure due to the combination of rising demand and international natural gas prices.
The subsidy of household electricity bills is also expected to be maintained next month. The platform is expected to open in March for the subsidy of approximately 700,000 businesses and will be valid retroactively for the period December-February.
The average wholesale price on the Greek stock exchange is above 150 euros per megawatt-hour in February, from 135 euros in January, pushing up suppliers’ tariffs, the majority of which (as well as PPC, which has the largest market share) absorb a significant part of the wholesale price increases. Protergia (Metlen) has already announced that it will keep the “green” tariff stable for the ninth month at 15.9 cents per kilowatt-hour (the prices of all suppliers will be announced by March 1).
In general, the “green” tariffs (which the majority of consumers still use) are more expensive, starting at 15.4 cents, while the blue (fixed) tariffs start at 9.4 cents and the yellow (floating) tariffs start at 7.7 cents.
This month, the platform for subsidizing businesses for the increased cost of electricity in the December-February quarter is also expected to be activated. According to the announcement, it includes businesses with a turnover of up to 10 million euros which will be called upon to submit applications and declarations in order to ensure that the electricity subsidy does not violate European state aid rules. It is estimated that 600,000-700,000 companies will be beneficiaries of the subsidy.
