Families benefited from a reduction in the price of electricity. An undoubtedly welcome measure that affects the budgets of thousands of Albanians, who this year are facing the rising cost of living in the face of non-payment of bills.
It was the Energy Regulatory Authority that on January 8 decided to reduce the price of energy by 1 lek for over 95% of household subscribers. The decision stipulates that household subscribers who consume up to 700 kilowatt hours of energy per month will pay 8.5 lek per kilowatt hour. While for all those who pay above this level, they will pay the entire amount at 9.5 lek per kilowatt hour.
But what is the number of families that consume up to 700 kilowatt hours of energy per month and who, consequently, are also the beneficiaries of this initiative?
According to official data, out of the 1.1 million total number of household subscribers, 880 thousand are households that consume up to 700 kilowatt hours.
Prime Minister Rama's reaction to the Regulatory Authority's decision to reduce the price of energy for this category was immediate. A measure that was, in fact, warned about earlier by the head of government.
What is the expected impact of this reduction? How much do families actually benefit and is this reduction in energy prices particularly significant for low-income subscribers, such as pensioners?
Reducing the price of energy by 1 lek for household subscribers also aims at another objective: that of reducing energy consumption by up to 700 kilowatt hours per month per family. This is in conditions where energy security remains a problem, due to the geopolitical situation, but also the great dependence that the Albanian energy system still has on hydro resources, in other words, on atmospheric conditions.
The reduction in the price of electricity in a year when general parliamentary elections are expected to take place is considered electoral by some experts, according to whom the government is trying to lure citizens with so-called "electoral candy" in exchange for votes.
But the general administrator of the Electricity Distribution Operator explains that the price reduction is entirely technical and has occurred due to the improvement of the financial situation in the energy system.
Technical and financial indicators point to an improved situation in the energy sector, despite many problems that require solutions.
The level of technical and non-technical losses, otherwise known as wear and tear, dropped to 17.9% at the end of last year, having undergone a continuous decline in recent years.
This is also thanks to investments made in the energy distribution network, which reduces technical losses, but also improves the quality of energy supply to citizens. At the same time, collections have increased.
Data shows that at the end of last year, the collection rate exceeded 100.5%, indicating that in addition to paying current or current invoices, citizens and debtor businesses are also paying off arrears.
But despite the improvement in key indicators, the Albanian energy system still has problems, which, according to sector experts, need to be addressed with concrete measures and long-term sustainable policies.
The level of debts remains one of the main problems of the energy system, despite the fact that in 2024 the creation of new obligations by subscribers was curbed. Data shows that last year, debts reached 79.5 billion lek, being more or less at the same levels as in 2023.
Household subscribers are the ones who bear the main burden with almost half of the total liabilities, while state institutions and mainly non-budgetary enterprises, such as water and sewerage, are also a problem.
Diversification of energy production, where in addition to energy from water or other hydro sources, we also have energy from other sources, such as wind or solar. This would reduce the system's dependence on weather conditions and increase the amount of energy in the network, placing Albania in comfortable conditions and a potential exporter.
Assessing the current state of the energy sector, but also the price situation, experts recommend several measures that should be taken by the government and energy companies, so that the situation in one of the country's main sectors is healthy and sustainable in the long term.
Energy and its productive resources are one of the main strengths that a country has. This becomes especially important in a situation that is not at all calm, like the one the whole world is going through today, where raw material resources are perhaps the greatest advantage that anyone has. And Albania has everything: it has water, sun and wind. It just needs to use them to produce as much energy as possible.
(A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
