Cyprus Electricity backs down from 3% CO2 penalty surcharge

The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) has backed down from the imposition of a 3% surcharge on all household electricity bills, which was set to go into effect from July 1, 2009 to pay towards the EUR 11 mln fine imposed by the EU on Cyprus for exceeding EU quotas on CO2 emissions.
The decision was basically imposed by President Christofias and Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides on the EAC following a huge outcry from the Auditor General, political parties and the public in general.
The retracement is a major embarrassment for the EAC and Costas Ioannou, head of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) who had justified EAC’s initial request and decided that the public should be burdened for the mistakes of others.
The EAC says it cannot be blamed for exceeding greenhouse gas emissions because this is a direct outcome of the government’s energy policy, over which it has no control.
“We are not responsible,” EAC board Chairman Harris Thrasou said, who has nevertheless not been able to state why then the public is responsible. While the EAC said it submitted its proposals to the government on how to import and distribute natural gas – a cleaner alternative to the heavy fuel oil which currently fires the island’s power plants, but he did not elaborate when the proposals were submitted and since the EAC knows well the bureaucracy involved in such issues, why the proposals were not submitted even earlier.