Government publishes utility tariff proposals - more to benefit from eco-reductions

The government this evening published a letter sent to the trade unions on Monday outlining changes to the proposed utility tariffs.

In his letter, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that the points agreed with the trade unions at their meetings on Saturday were that:

The service charge for residences would come into force on January 1, 2009 instead of October 1, 2008;

The current energy benefit would be extended to those households which had to install three phase electricity because of health, disability or similar reasons;

Those residences wishing to switch from three phase to single phase would be charged the tariff applicable on September 30;

The eco-reduction threshold would be amended so that in the case of single persons, it would rise from 20% to 25% while the benchmark of units benefiting from the reductions would rise from 1500 units to 2,000 units per year;

For households of two persons or more, the percentages would rise from 20% to 25% and from 10% to 15%. The benchmark of units which would qualify for the reduction would rise from 1500 to 1750 per person per year.

Dr Gonzi said these changes would mean that 15,394 more families would benefit from the eco-reduction for a total of 138,333 out of a total of 190,342 domestic accounts.

The changes would also mean that Enemalta's income next year would be reduced by €4.2 million.

It was also agreed that future changes to the power tariffs would be handled by the Resources Authority according to the rules of the European Union and domestic legislation.

Dr Gonzi thanked the trade unions for their contribution towards this agreement.

Earlier this evening the CMTU said it agreed with the new proposals while a group of unions including the GWU, the MUT and the MUMN said they acknowledged that the burden was being eased but they were requesting a meeting with the technical people who had worked out the costings.

See story at: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081126/local/unions-say-government-easing-tariffs-burden-request-meeting