According to the electricity companies, the support would cause considerable administrative and development costs for the companies, which would ultimately end up being paid by the customers.
The government the proposed one-time compensation for electricity users struggling with large electricity bills receives strong criticism. The model would cause problems for both electricity sellers and the public administration, according to the responses to the opinion round.
Paikallisvoima, an organization of small energy companies, points out that three different electricity subsidies have already been implemented, when the VAT reduction, the electricity reduction related to the household deduction and the electricity subsidy for low incomes have come into use.
“Now, a fourth, retroactive support system is being presented, the executor of which would be private law electricity companies. We consider this kind of multi-channel construction of overlapping support systems to deal with a temporary problem lasting a few months to be cumbersome and economically unwise”, writes the executive director of the organization Toivo Hurme.
Cities the association of energy companies Energiakaupungit estimates that the electricity credit and the extension of payment periods cause such high costs for electricity sellers that they exceed the budgeted operating profit level for the operating year.
“Costs like this increase pricing pressure on end customers,” writes the executive director Aku Aarva.
The subsidy is due to be paid later in the spring to compensate for the high prices expected for January-April. The consumer does not have to apply for support separately, but it would be automatically paid as a refund in the electricity bill. The state would pay the electricity companies compensation afterwards.
The lump sum is based on consumption in November and December. The deductible is 90 euros, and a refund would be paid for half of the part that exceeds the limit. The subsidy ceiling is 700 euros per month, and payments for electricity transmission are limited to outside the subsidy. No compensation is paid for hourly rates of less than 10 cents.
The package also includes the opportunity for companies to extend the payment period for electricity bills.
Ministry of Justice ponders the question of the role of electricity companies as an executor of the task of public administration. The ministry also raises the question of whether electricity companies should also be compensated for the administrative costs incurred by them.
If the electricity company should happen to go bankrupt or cease operations before the compensation is paid, the customer entitled to compensation would be entitled to claim the money from the Energy Agency, according to the proposal.
However, the agency points out that it does not have any kind of system or sufficient budget to manage the refund payments of even tens of thousands of consumers. The costs could rise to a couple of million if there were 10,000 cases, the agency calculates.
Electricity companies current information systems are not built for refunds. It is open, for example, how to proceed if the invoicing intervals are not even months or if estimated invoicing is used. More problems can arise if the customer changes support vendors or if the customer has overdue invoices.
The energy company Helen states that those in the weakest position due to electricity bills should be supported by the state, instead of transferring the payment of social security as a new obligation to the electricity companies.
“The proposed model would be very difficult to implement flawlessly and would confuse the invoicing of all customers,” warns Helen.
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