A wave of additional costs, with average increases of 35.4% in distribution charges, is set to hit household and business natural gas bills, under the tariff adjustments proposed by Enaon for the 2027-2030 period.
At a time when the energy crisis is in full swing, natural gas is trading at €90 and costs are rising by the day, the subsidiary of Italy’s Italgas, which controls Greece’s distribution networks, is asking RAAEY to approve a series of increases.
These cover both the average distribution tariff, which it proposes to raise from €19.86 to €26.89/MWh, and a front-loaded 20.9% increase in required revenue for 2027, as well as a rise in the WACC from 8.38% to 8.70% — the company’s weighted average cost of capital.
The energy suppliers’ association (ESPEN) has sounded the alarm in a submission to RAAEY’s public consultation on Enaon’s development plan and proposed tariffs for the new regulatory period. The company’s steep new charges have been a persistent focus of criticism in recent weeks, both from the market and from opposition parties.
In the face of mounting criticism, the Italian company — recently in the spotlight over a series of incidents and failures involving the natural gas distribution network (Plaka, Grava) — has so far made no official comment.
Industry objections and backlash from PASOK
The Hellenic Association of Industrial Energy Consumers (EVIKEN) recently voiced strong opposition to the Italian company’s approach, warning that the proposed harmonisation of Enaon’s natural gas distribution tariffs could raise costs for industries in Thessaly by as much as 82%. The issue has also recently been taken up by PASOK.
For industry, the central message is that charges cannot be harmonised through sudden changes that disrupt businesses’ operating costs.
The criticism centres on a proposal to apply uniform rates to industrial consumers in Thessaly, which would raise the capacity charge from about €3.4/kWh/h to €6.21/kWh/h. Although the increase applies to this specific component of distribution tariffs, rather than the total cost of natural gas supply, it accounts for a large share of the overall charge. The adjustment is therefore disproportionate and could have a significant impact on businesses’ competitiveness, EVIKEN says.
What the €180m-€190m figure refers to
PASOK, for its part, cites figures suggesting that about 70% of the proposed increase in the distribution tariff — from €19.86 to €26.89/MWh — is not linked to network expansion or improved services, but to the recovery of about €190m in revenue that the company had expected to collect in 2022-2025, but ultimately did not.
ESPEN also addresses the issue in its letter, noting that the gap between the revenue Enaon had expected to collect and the amount ultimately recovered adds a further €180m to the required revenue for 2027-2030.
These are amounts that were not recovered during the previous period and are included in the calculation of revenue for the following four years, contributing to the increase in new distribution charges.
In practice, the association warns that the same pattern could recur if forecasts for growth in natural gas connections and consumption prove overly optimistic. In that event, actual revenue could again fall short of projections, creating new shortfalls that may be carried over into tariffs for subsequent periods and fuel an endless spiral of price increases.