Government rebuts Chamber’s energy tariffs complaints: prices lower than EU average

The government has published data from Eurostat – the EU’s statistical office – to rebut claims by the Chamber of Commerce that Malta’s energy tariffs for commercial players hinders the island’s competitiveness.

Earlier today, the Chamber of Commerce said that it was “far from happy with energy rates”. It went on to argue that electricity prices for industrial consumers averaged marginally lower than those paid by Maltese industries. It also said that Malta’s average rate available as quoted by Eurostat was 36% higher.

However, the ministry within the Office of the Prime Minister – Konrad Mizzi’s ministry – issued a statement noting that electricity prices for business have already been reduced by 25%, in April 2015. This translated into an annual injection of €50 million in the economy.

The ministry also explained that the levels of outages in Malta were no longer similar to those in many Eastern European countries – such as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland – but now compared well with Austria, France and the United Kingdom. 

In Malta, around 88.4% of industrial consumers consume less than 20Mwh: the cost during the second half of 2015 was of €0.21, compared to the EU28 average of €0.23.

“In this band of electricity consumption by SMEs, the rate per kilowatt hour in Malta is 12% cheaper than the EU average,” the government said. “In 2012, rates in this band were 13% more expensive than the EU average.”

Almost 11% of Maltese businesses consume between 20 and 500Mwh, at a cost of €0.16 compared to the EU28 average of €0.18.

“In this category of larger companies, the rate per kilowatt hour in Malta is 7% cheaper than the EU average. In 2012 rates in this band were 24% more expensive than the EU average,” the government said.

The largest electricity consumers – meaning the 0.5% who consume between 550Mwh and 2,000mwh – pay €0.1475 compared to the EU average of €0.1474.

“This is within the EU average,” the government said. “It is noted that, as happens in Malta, it is normal that domestic consumers pay less for energy than business consumers in other EU countries.”

The OPM ministry went on to point out that credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s had noted that electricity tariffs were now well within the EU average.

Domestic rates were reduced earlier in April 2014: the OPM ministry noted that the reduction in electricity prices in Malta were also complemented with an €80 million distribution investment plan which resulted in an 80% reduction in power outages when compared to 2012.