The Nationalist Party on Wednesday reiterated its call for electricity and fuel prices to be cut amid a slide in international oil and gas prices, and the financial difficulties being faced by businesses and families.
The shadow minister for the energy sector, Ryan Callus, also hit out at the government over its power station deals, saying that power generation was costing Malta €91 million more annually than it should be at current prices.
He insisted that in the current situation electricity prices should be halved because the ordinary Maltese should not suffer the consequences of the government's wrong decisions and corrupt practices.
18-year power purchase agreement
Callus said the government was paying through its nose for the provision of electricity owing to the power purchase conditions in the 18-year agreement with Electrogas (the consortium which built the new power plant).
He insisted that Malta should be investing more in renewable sources. It should also source most of its electricity from the interconnector and the former BWSC plant (operated by Shanghai Electric), which were both cheaper than electricity sold by Electrogas.
Involvement of SOCAR
Callus said the government's decision to involve Azerbaijan State energy company SOCAR as an intermediary in the purchase of gas meant that Malta was paying €40 million per year more than it should be. Since the deal was signed, gas prices had gone down by 36 per cent while the price of oil has fallen to a historic low. Yet consumers were not benefiting from these reductions.
Loss of energy sovereignty
In his analysis Callus complained that with the involvement of Shanghai Electric and Electrogas in power generation, Malta had lost its “energy sovereignty” as it was no longer in a position to decide utility rates itself.
This was shown in a remark which Finance Minister Edward Scicluna in a Times of Malta interview, when he said that any reduction in tariffs must be decided in consultation 'with the Chinese'.
Corruption and kickbacks
He said that the Electrogas power plant was mired in corruption from the very start, to the detriment of taxpayers. E-mails had shown how a secret Panama company owned by former energy minister Konrad Mizzi’ was meant to receive €5,000 daily from 17 Black – a company owned by Electrogas shareholder Yorgen Fenech.
Unfair billing system
Callus said consumers were also being stung by an “unfair” utility billing system used by ARMS, the government's billing company for utilities. He noted that the government had not kept its word to review this system by last year, while a number of court cases instituted by aggrieved clients were still pending.
Eco-contribution needs improvement
Opposition spokesperson Claudette Buttigieg called for a temporary upward revision in the free water and electricity units allocated per person per household (the eco-contribution) for a year. These are currently 1750 units of electricity and 33 cubic metres of water.
She said that the partial lockdown meant that energy consumption had risen significantly, while many families had also suffered a drop in income.
Opposition spokesman Hermann Schiavone called for lower electricity and water meter tariffs for business who were forced to stop operations due to COVID-19.