The energy market reacts immediately to the government’s decision to tax companies’ excess profits, with Protergia announcing the absorption of the increase in wholesale prices and the freezing of retail prices.
In particular, as company sources say, the decision to maintain the same charges in August compared to July, despite the increase in the wholesale market, “aims” to give a “brand” to the market, stressing that “it can be done in another way”, speaking about the transfer of shocks from the wholesale market to retail electricity prices.
It should be recalled that, both during the energy crisis and afterwards, any increases in the wholesale electricity market were “translated” almost immediately into corresponding increases in the final charges on electricity bills, testing the resilience of consumers, who saw electricity bills soar to unimaginable heights month after month.
Same rates despite 45% increase in Protergia wholesale
As stated in a related company statement, Protergia, part of Metlen Energy & Metals (formerly MYTILINEOS), has chosen to maintain the same charges, despite the average wholesale price being expected to close within a few days with an increase of around 45% compared to the corresponding price in July.
In fact, the average price so far is €142.91 per megawatt-hour, up from €98 in July. The company adds that if the Ministry of Environment and Energy decides to subsidise consumers up to 500 kWh, this amount will be deducted in full from these prices. As stated in the respective announcement, “Protergia’s non-negotiable strategic priority is to provide trust and security to its customers, new and existing, with competitive products and services and, of course, the reliability of METLEN Energy & Metals, supporting the energy market as a whole.”
It should be remembered that Protergia’s special green tariff in July “closed” at 15.9 euro cents per kilowatt hour and the two yellow tariffs Protergia Home Value Simple and Protergia Home Value Easy cost 13.6 euro cents and 9 euro cents per kilowatt hour, respectively.
The extraordinary tax, subsidies and PPP
For its part, the Ministry of Environment and Energy is moving forward with the consumer support plan for August, and plans to submit to Parliament next week the legislative regulation on the value of the extraordinary tax that it will impose on natural gas power plants.
As is known, the funds raised will be used to finance subsidies for yellow and green domestic electricity rates for August, with a limit of 500 kilowatt-hours. Relevant sources clarify that the amount of the extraordinary fee will ultimately be determined by the charges for green rates that will be announced on the evening of August 1 by providers, with special weight given to the charge determined by the PPC.
This is because the PPC green tariff collects 72% of the residential consumer market and, therefore, it must first be “followed”, so that the average consumer tariff is around 15 to 16 cents per kilowatt-hour, as the ministry wants.
It should be noted that PPC’s green tariff was set at 13.557 cents per KWh (for consumption up to 500 kilowatt-hours) in July, after a 31% discount. A month earlier, in June, the company had given a 38% discount.
Market sources have reservations about the fluctuation of the PPC tariff, given that it has been applying high discounts for two months, while other providers “follow” the price evolution, so the margins of the largest electricity company are significantly limited at this time.