What started as an electoral ace card for the Labour Party at the 2013 election is slowly becoming an albatross around its neck. A new gas-powered plant was promised to be delivered in two years. Assurances that all was on track were given along the way by then energy minister Konrad Mizzi until, inevitably, the truth had to be told. The deadline, March 2015, was to be missed.

Possibly, by time people would have given up and forgotten about the new power plant, having already obtained the water and energy cuts promised by Labour before building works started. But Labour had to deliver the project, seeing it could lose its credibility if it did not, and maybe more.

The situation has dragged on for so long that the very need for the new plant is now being questioned. Labour promised cleaner air with a gas plant but the interconnector with Sicily achieves very much the same. It promised cheaper energy with gas but oil prices fell. Now, through an agreement entered with Electrogas, Malta will be committed to buy its energy at fixed prices for years to come, irrespective of oil price fluctuations. Suddenly, it does not sound like a good idea.

While the repeated delays in the completion of the project have clearly been a cause of embarrassment for the government and, most especially, Dr Mizzi, it has now emerged that the country has actually been saving money thanks to the minister’s failings. If the plant had been commissioned in 2015 as promised, it would have cost the country an extra €138 million over the last two years, according to an independent analysis commissioned by the Nationalist Party.

And if that were not enough, a huge LNG tanker will be permanently berthed inside Marsaxlokk. Eyesores and refilling technicalities aside, on inclement weather days the power plant may actually be shut down. Meanwhile, people have been given 40 days to read 15,000 pages of technical reports on what dangers the tanker could pose.

The Opposition leader says he will ignore the power purchase agreement the government signed with Electrogas and will purchase energy from the cheapest source. That may be easier said than done, as the contracts are still a mystery, but the problem is very real.

This government’s energy policy appeared to start on the right foot with the selling off of part of Enemalta to Chinese investors and a plan to switch from heavy oil to gas. But, somewhere along the way, it lost the plot and now the country is faced with a situation where it could wind up getting the short end of the stick and paying heavily for the mistake. The new power plant hasn’t been switched on yet. It has no gas.

Maybe there is still time to achieve inter-party consensus. Energy supply is a matter of national interest. It should be above partisan politics. Yes, there are fundamental differences on policy between the Nationalist and Labour parties, most especially on price flexibility. The PN side wants to benefit from market price fluctuations, buying from the cheapest source. Labour opts for price stability, which is ironic considering that it itself introduced multiple players to the industry that should lead to price competition.

Finding common ground will not be easy. As a start, the contracts need to be published and all facts made known. Then, maybe, a compromise on the way ahead could be sought, for the good of the country.

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