Skylakakis: Greek electricity rates may drop below 14 cents per kW-hour

Competition between electricity providers has already begun and is here to stay, Environment and Energy Minister Thodoros Skylakakis stated on Friday in an interview with SKAI TV. As he underlined, "competition is already operating as regards the blue bills for electricity and I believe that the same will happen with the green and yellow bills. For the next year at least, I believe we will have intense competition between the providers."

Skylakakis explained that the government's work does not end with the initiative for the new billing systems for electricity, which sparked competition in the electricity market. "The competition that affects the profit margins of providers for the benefit of consumers is part of the electricity bill. However there are also other elements that affect it, for example the charges for pollutants, which have risen from 20-25 euros to 75-80 euros." He also cited the cost of electricity theft, saying the government was taking very strict measures to reduce this, and the problem of strategic bad payers.

Referring to the different categories of electricity bills (fixed-rate, dynamic and floating rate), Skylakakis said that consumers who don't make a choice about the type of charges they prefer will automatically get the green bills. "The picture we have is that the green bill rates may even fall below 14 cents per kilowatt-hour in January for some providers," he said, adding that the blue (fixed-rate) bills are very competitive, with one provider offering rates that are below 15 cents per kW hour.