Enemalta has reserved the right to appeal after the Resources Authority in its considerations of the new power tariffs reduced the revenue amount proposed by Enemalta by €7.29 million.

The corporation had requested that variable target revenue be increased from €254.1 million to €333.30 million but the MRA concluded that the total claim should be reduced by €7.29 million.

The authority said that adjustments should be incorporated in the Enemalta financials to reflect certain recoveries both in cost and revenues which occurred this year.

The strongest impact of the MRA decision to order a reduction in Enemalta's proposal was on the power tariffs for major commercial and residential consumers, which would otherwise have been higher. It was felt that those on the lower end scale had already been taken care of in the original proposal, an MRA spokesman said.

The Authority said it also accepted in principle that the corporation may seek a subsequent adjustment in the next tariff revision to take into account potential increases in costs associated with a reduction in the sulphur content of fuel oil and the possible over estimation of other revenue.

Meanwhile, the Labour spokesman on the economy, Gavin Gulia, in a statement said that after the uncertainty about the new tariffs, yesterday's announcement was a savage blow to the economy and to businesses.

The new tariffs, he said, would mean an increase of 20 percent in the bills which would have to be borne by businesses.

These new burdens were being imposed even though the economy had shrunk by 2% and was facing major competitiveness problems.

This, Dr Gulia said, was the opposite of an economic stimulus.

He warned that the higher tariffs cold also fuel higher prices and thus added burdens on households.