Labour’s diversionary tactics work no more. In an effort to downplay the country’s abysmal interconnector usage, reported by this newspaper yesterday, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli has written about our proposal on commercial utility bills.
She avoided mention of a major issue: Eurostat put Malta’s commercial rates as the fifth highest among member states. Even worse, our businesses pay the second highest rates when one leaves out tax.
We are paying Electrogas the second highest price per unit of electricity in Europe. This proves the Electrogas contract is detrimental to the competitiveness of our enterprises.
Labour’s fantasy goes further. It holds that the PN’s proposal over the theft taking place through utility bills is against business interests.
This is complete nonsense. Our commercial model is not one-size-fits-all, as Labour suggests. The minister has once again sidelined low-usage consumers, such a small retail shops and offices, which do not benefit from the cheaper units simply because their consumption never reaches that stage. Dalli has given them no solution to the overcharging.
Our proposal caters for everyone: the families who have been mostly impacted by the overcharging mechanism and the low-usage commercial consumers who likewise face a probability of being overcharged. To safeguard jobs and competitiveness, the proposal does not burden heavy consumers.
A few days ago, Cabinet “approved” a second interconnector. Labour is using publicly funded marketing to take credit where no credit is due. The idea of a second interconnector is not Labour’s, as Dalli would have it.
The truth is that it was conceived in Enemalta’s 2006-2015 Electricity Generation Plan under a former PN administration, contemplating a “base load option consisting of two cable links”.
The tender document published in 2009 refers to the Terna-Enemalta study whereby “the implementation of the electrical interconnection is to lay two 220kV submarine cable links between Malta and Sicily in two phases (interconnectors)”.
In fact, Enemalta had requested bidders to express their interest in designing and building “an option for a second similarly rated interconnector” in the tender document for the first interconnector.
Fast forward to January 2020 and February 2021, the PN launched its Energy Plan for Malta 2021-2030-2050, renewing our commitment to a second interconnector. It is rich of Labour to attribute to itself the decision to proceed with the second interconnector. Prime Minister Robert Abela went so far as to take credit for the first one.
Labour has described the story on interconnector usage as a “misnomer”. It has nowhere to run. It is doubting the government’s own figures provided in parliament.
This is preposterous. It is why Labour has zero credibility in talking about the interconnector.
The PN’s energy plan continues to take shape- Ryan Callus
Lest we forget, the Auditor General, in his investigation into the filthy Electrogas contract, had found that “compared to the actual cost incurred by Enemalta, this buying strategy would have yielded cost savings of €10,119,023 over the 15-month period under review”.
The buying strategy referred to is the purchase of electricity from the cheapest source, one of the six main pillars of the PN’s energy plan.
Had Labour opted for the interconnector in certain instances, we would have reduced the country’s utility bills by €10 million in a year and a half. Is the NAO’s conclusion on the under-utilisation of the interconnector a “misnomer” too?
Following a further request by the PN MPs within the Public Accounts Committee, the Auditor General was asked to extend this analysis on Electrogas and interconnector usage until the end of 2020. The results provided tally with those given in a separate parliamentary question by Enemalta. Is this also a misnomer?
The shocking figures show how the interconnector, the cheapest energy source, went from nearly maximum usage capacity prior to switching on Electrogas to less than 25 per cent post-Electrogas – when Electrogas is the most expensive source.
Think of the savings lost and unnecessary utility bills paid by our families had the €10 million in savings been extended to the end of last year.
The Labour cabinet had a major decision to make: either opt for a second Electrogas gas turbine or a second interconnector. The strategy of two interconnectors, which was in the PN plan back in 2006, is finally becoming reality.
In opting for a second interconnector, Labour has finally realised that the Electrogas model is not the most economical in our energy mix. It is forcing consumers to pay higher prices for electricity.
The PN’s energy plan continues to take shape.
Ryan Callus, Nationalist Party spokesperson on energy