The social partners firmly believe that Enemalta should get its act together and eliminate its avoidable inefficiencies, which run into millions of euros.
They believe the corporation should certainly not expect consumers to carry the burden of its losses, especially when the cost of electricity has shot up with the new rates.
The social partners were reacting to an item that appeared on The Sunday Times revealing that the corporation had avoidable losses of €16 million although analysts believe these are closer to €27 million.
The corporation had its accounts last audited in 2005, which prompted the general secretary of the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, Gejtu Vella to call for an investigation by the Auditor General.
"This is public money being squandered. We insist that all public funds should be used properly," he said.
His counterpart at the General Workers' Union, Tony Zarb echoed a similar sentiment and said losses should never be thrown onto consumers' shoulders.
The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association's president, Kevin De Cesare, described such hefty avoidable inefficiencies as unacceptable: "It is completely unfair for people to be paying more when there are all these avoidable losses".
Joe Farrugia, from the Malta Employers' Association, said that although getting rid of avoidable losses would only have a marginal effect on tariffs, consumers should not be made to pay for inefficiencies as a matter of principle.
The corporation's losses include theft, billing inaccuracies and inefficiencies at the Marsa power station. Enemalta has already announced plans to change all meters through a €47 million investment in its fight against electricity theft through a more efficient billing system, while talks are underway with the GWU to tackle overstaffing, unneeded shifts and overtime.
"All efforts should be made to cut down on inefficiencies, irrespective of where these are coming from. They need to be removed as a matter of principle, especially at a time when oil prices are volatile," Mr Farrugia said.
The president of the Federation of Industry, Martin Galea pointed out that Enemalta has a monopoly, which made it even more important to clamp down on avoidable losses.
"I would like to see all the figures and have a proper debate," he said, adding that there should "definitely" be a focus on enforcement.
The director general of the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, Vince Farrugia said there was now an even stronger case for a revision of the tariffs.
It is unclear whether the hefty losses are paid for by Enemalta consumers or through taxes. Data released by the government when the water and electricity rates were being looked into showed the government was absorbing about €3 million of the corporation's inefficiencies.
Questions sent to the Infrastructure Ministry for clarification on the matter remained unanswered.