Until the end of 2023, discounts of more than 50% are expected in 1.7 million homes with district heating
Government president Pedro Sánchez announced on Thursday a new package of measures to dampen the rise in electricity and gas, for which the government will release a total of 3,000 million more from the general state budget. Sánchez, in his appearance in the Congress of Deputies last Wednesday, said the next Council of Ministers would adopt a new decree intended to protect 40% of the country’s households.
As the president recalled, since June 2021, the government has achieved savings of 35,000 million, almost 3% of GDP, for consumers with measures such as the tax cut or the “Iberian exception,” which puts a limit on natural gas for electricity generation.
Household electricity bills are 33% lower than without the approved measures. “Vulnerable consumers pay the same as before the war in Ukraine,” the president assured during his speech. Similarly, SMEs’ electricity bills are 23% lower than without the measures, and those of industry between 18% and 20%.
In addition, the gas bills of households with TUR for hot water and heating are 50% lower than without the measures, while the butane cylinder has a frozen price and petrol and diesel have a discount of 20 cents per liter.
The measures include increased support for the current social voucher, which covers 1.3 million households, with an increase in the discount for vulnerable consumers from 60% to 65% and an increase in the discount for severely vulnerable consumers from 70% to 80 %. In this sense, a 15% increase is expected in the amount of energy entitled to these discounts.
The government also plans to increase support for the thermal social bond, as the support grows from 35 euros to 350 euros per year (depending on the beneficiary’s climate zone) to 40 euros to 375 euros per year. The Executive includes in its plan the temporary creation of a new category of electricity consumers who are entitled to a 40% discount on their bills for 1.5 million low-income households.
The president has proposed some measures on heating and hot water consumption in homes with communal gas boilers. Specifically, the protection already provided by regulated tariffs will be extended to homes that are part of neighborhood communities with centralized natural gas heating, creating a new regulated tariff that limits the quarterly price increase until the end of 2023. In total, 1.7 million households will benefit from the reduction of more than half of the benefit with this measure.
The president of the government, during his first intervention in the stands, mentioned the energy-saving plan that was approved in early August, which allowed to save 4.6% of electricity consumption compared to the previous year. In addition, he stressed that this savings plan is “coherent” with the emergency plan approved last Tuesday in the Council of Ministers, which the government will send to Brussels “within a few days”.
This contingency plan consists of a total of 73 measures with the aim of achieving additional savings in natural gas consumption in the country from 5.1% to 13.5% from last August to May 2023, a period set by the European Commission to cope with. offer this autumn/winter, which is characterized by a crisis situation resulting from the war in Ukraine. In concrete terms, these measures are divided into six major blocks: saving and efficiency, promoting the ecological transition, consumer protection, taxation, energy autonomy and solidarity with Europe.
Key measures include expanding protections for vulnerable consumers, with greater coverage for the thermal and electricity bonus and a greater proportion of the population with protection, as well as working on a proposal for communal boilers to cut their bill this winter, sources said. of the specified ministry.
Sánchez stressed the impact of the Iberian gas cap mechanism, which “has enabled savings of EUR 2,800 million, 15% so far”, and which “many European countries” are now asking to apply on their territory.
For example, the president valued the Iberian “solution” compared to the “scam” assessments denounced by the conservative caucus. In this sense, he reminded them of the recognition of this mechanism by both the European Commission and the group of environmental countries ‘of all political convictions’.
“If it shows anything, it’s the blindness and denial of an opposition, which during this legislature, with the pandemic and now with the war, has been committed only to harassing and trying to overthrow the government and not the country. help at critical points. moments,” the president lamented.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
