Gas distributors have won a concession to receive government subsidies for a 15-year period in return for providing a door-to-door service even in remote areas not deemed to be commercially viable.

Though the government would not say how much the deal will cost the exchequer or the amount that each distributor will take, EU law states that this cannot exceed the so called “de minimis level”, which is equivalent to €500,000 over any period of three fiscal years.

The decision to grant what is known as a public service obligation applies to 31 distributors who enjoy territorial exclusivity and are thus obliged to sell their product in specified zones.

In a notice published in The Malta Government Gazette of March 17, the decision to grant the PSO was justified on grounds that energy poverty in Malta was above the EU average.

The government said the number of households unable to keep their home warm had doubled since 2005 and, by 2011, stood at 21.7 per cent. The trend was more pronounced among low-income earners, the elderly and single parent households.

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