Malta’s electricity rates were on Wednesday discussed in the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions with resident Patricia Graham explaining the different rates applied.
Ms Graham told the committee there were three utility tariffs in Malta - residential, domestic and non-residential.
The residential rate was the lowest tariff and is available to those living in their primary residence in Malta. The domestic rate applied to secondary homes and was a higher tariff. The non-residential rate, she said, was not applicable to the petition presented.
Ms Graham pointed out that the residential rate was not automatic and had to be applied for. The domestic rate was the default rate applied to all properties.
She noted, that an average bill for a family of six would be €91.77 a month for exactly the same consumption on the residential rate but charged on the domestic tariff the cost would be €155.29.
She noted that when tenants who become aware of this contacted their landlord asking to be registered on the residential rate, landlords generally refused.
Tenants could use a backdoor and submit their own application for the correct tariff but this came to a total cost of over €500, a rate that was certainly not accessible to minimum wage earners. Moreover, they were charged 13% to have billing errors redressed and had to pay a €50 administration fee for the privilege.
The cost to tenants who were fortunate enough who have a landlord who does the right thing costs nothing, Ms Graham said.
A European Commission representative said that the situation in Malta was legal because the island had a derogation from the Electricity Directive.
But MEP Roberta Metsola insisted that the fact that the petitioners were present looked, showed and proved that there was an issue. This, she said, was an issue of fairness and a lot of questions remained pending.
The committee noted that the Maltese government was contacted for a response on December 17 but this had not yet been received. It decided to keep the petition open until that response arrived and it would then take action on that.