Updated 6.25 with Energy Ministry's statement
The Energy Ministry promised compensation for repeated power cuts on Monday, saying in reply to comments by the opposition leader that the existing scheme would be re-applied this summer.
The announcement came three hours after Bernard Grech demanded compensation for the inconvenience and damage suffered by people as a result of persistent power cuts.
Last September, the government announced a one-time compensation of up to €110 to be distributed to households that suffered power cuts of at least six hours between July 17 and 27 of that year.
Businesses also got a one-time ex-gratia payment equivalent to one-month consumption, calculated on the actual average consumption of that account in June, July and August 2022.
Speaking in a message on NET TV and Facebook, Grech said he had also written to the chairman of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) asking for a meeting with the social partners to discuss the situation and find a way forward.
Last year, he pointed out, the prime minister promised the MCESD unprecedented investment to solve the problem, but the truth was that investment had actually declined.
He also reiterated a call he made on Sunday for Energy Minister Miriam Dalli to resign or be removed.
"I cannot understand how Dalli has not resigned yet," he said. She was the one who promised massive investment for the country not to suffer a repeat of the outages it suffered last year, and yet Enemalta spent less than what was assigned to it," Grech said.
The country, he added, was in crisis because of the government's lack of infrastructural investment over the years. That was evident in various sectors including energy, health, polluted bays and waste collection. The population was allowed to grow, without proper investment in the infrastructure he said.
He accused the government of being absent amid this "national crisis" and of failing people by not being able to guarantee the provision of basic services.
It was a situation which was causing hardship to the people and impacting the economy, he added.
The people, he said, deserved peace of mind and the government should guarantee basic services so that they could build a better quality of life. They should also be compensated for the inconvenience and damages suffered by the power cuts.
Dalli said last week that she worried every time there was a power cut. She explained, however, that the infrastructural work needed to bring Malta’s electricity distribution network up to scratch would have to be done in phases
“I wish we could dig up the entire country and do all the work that needs to be done [in one go],” Dalli said in a brief phone-in on RTK103.
“But we can’t. It needs to be done in phases.”
Data published by the National Audit Office last week showed that Enemalta spent less money on upgrading its distribution grid last year than it had a decade earlier, despite the infrastructure having to cater for a significantly larger and more power-hungry population.
Ministry says it is briefing MCESD on investment in power distribution network
In its reply to the Opposition leader's comments, the Energy Ministry said Miriam Dalli had already met and would continue to meet the MCESD to discuss solutions, including the biggest investment ever in the energy distribution network.
As for the Opposition leader's reference to compensation, the ministry said the social partners were involved in the existing compensation scheme which would also be applied this summer.
The ministry also explained that 82km of new cables were laid underground so far this year and 32 substations were set up. Works had also been carried out on 36 transformers, and 22 switchgears were replaced.
In the first phase of this investment, works were carried out in Marsascala, Kalkara, Cospicua, Vittoriosa, Żurrieq, Safi, Kirkop, Ħal Far, Dingli, Żebbuġ, Luqa, Rabat, Mosta, Naxxar, Qala, Sannat, Nadur, Xlendi and Marsalforn.
In the second phase, currently underway, works were planned in Marsa, Siġġiewi, Żebbuġ, Żabbar, Ricasoli, San Ġwann, St Julian's, Gżira, Sliema, Attard, Birkirkara, Ħamrun, Santa Venera, Fgura, Mellieħa, Buġibba, Qawra, Marsalforn and Xagħra. Reinforcement works would be carried out in Għarb, Kerċem, Għasri, San Lawrenz and Victoria.
Between 2022 and 2023, 80 new substations were built, and works were made on 18km of Medium Voltage Reinforcements, 44 switchgear replacements, 22 transformer uprates and 145 feeders.
Distribution centres in Marsascala, Mrieħel and Tarxien were extended and new ones will be commissioned in Siġġiewi and Naxxar.