The Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs today informed the Authority of Malta Resources (MRA) that it had accepted their recommendation to approve the revision of electricity tariffs as proposed by Enemalta. The Minister also accepted the conclusions that were presented to him by the MRA.

The tariffs, which will be backdated to the 1st of April 2009 will mean that the new discounts for consumers are as follows:

The charges above apply to those households in which at least one person is living. On average the statement said, each resident of this kind will save 22% from the tariff.

New rates were also approved for commercial accounts, including businesses, companies, factories and industries. For the first time non-residential locations such as churches, homes for the elderly, housing for disabled people and non-profit making schools will also benefit from a tariff reduction. The non-residential accounts totaling more than 40,000 will save on average a reduction of 25.6%.

The new structure is based on the rates that apply equally to all businesses.

Reductions were also approved for new industries and hotels. The reductions for these sectors was less than other sectors because it has already had a reduction through capping.

The effect of financial hedging was not incorporated in the revision of tariffs. The regulator accepted this decision because it is of benefit to the consumer. However, his policy was that in future this would be accepted if this was done according to established procedures which guaranteed competence, transparency and seriousness with the use of public market instruments.

Ultimately, the Ministry has said that the Authority will continue to monitor the impact of oil prices and other conditions and recommend revisions if needed.

Permalink: MRA approves new reduced electricity tariffs