The government has decided: citizens will pay for the targeted increase in electricity prices

The steep increase in the regulated component of electricity, which is very likely to occur from January, is caused, among other things, by the mandatory subsidization of renewable sources. This will again be paid in full by the citizens, the government has transferred the payments to them. A logical question arose as to why we cannot cover the support of green sources from the proceeds from the sale of emission allowances, which was also proposed by the Minister of Industry, Jozef Síkela.

“The Ministry of Industry and Trade has been proposing since the summer the possibility of using revenues from emission allowances to help with high energy prices next year. The manager of the law on the use of emission allowances is the Ministry of the Environment, according to which this procedure would be in conflict with EU rules for the use of revenues from emission allowances. On the basis of this, a coalition agreement was formed that this method of financing will not be chosen,” said department spokesman Marek Vošahlík to Echo24.

According to the Ministry of the Environment, the money from the allowances cannot be used to support previously installed photovoltaics, which the state promised to subsidize, which is reflected in the electricity bills of households and companies.

“The use of revenues from allowances is only possible for the measures listed in Directive 2003/87/EC. Payment of operational support for PV plants installed in 2009-2010 is not among them, perhaps only for new sources. The directive only allows use for the development of renewable resources, but the use of funds for permits in 2024 for old PVEs would not lead to any development of RES,” the Ministry of the Environment said.

The statement of the Ministry of the Environment has now been confirmed by the European Commission. This refers to the revised European Emissions Trading Directive, which aims to “reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective and economically efficient manner”.

“The revised ETS directive enables the use of proceeds from emission allowance auctions across the board only for the development of renewable sources, and therefore cannot be used to support previously built sources. In this regard, the revised ETS directive does not contain any provisions on possible exceptions or transitional periods,” a source from the commission told Echo24.

In the same way, the directive talks about the fact that the revenues can be used by the states to provide financial support in “addressing social aspects in households with lower and middle incomes, including by reducing taxes with an adverse effect and targeted reduction of tariffs and charges for electricity from renewable sources”. . So it means a redistribution of money from the rich to the poor.

Funds from the proceeds of emission allowance auctions then flow into the Modernization Fund, which is established for the period 2021-2030 and “supports investments in the modernization of energy systems and the improvement of energy efficiency (…) The decision to use funds from the Modernization Fund for specific projects is a decision of the national authorities of the receiving Member State. The European Commission’s role is to oversee compliance with agreed EU rules and, as part of this role, to provide support and guidance to member states,” the commission claims.

The money from the Modernization Fund is supposed to go towards the climate transformation, which we committed to by agreeing to the European Green Deal. For the green transformation, the Czech Republic will have a trillion crowns at its disposal, of which part of the money will come from the Modernization Fund and part will also come from the upcoming Social Fund for Climate Measures, which will again draw money from emission allowances, but from the new supplementary system. Money from the payment of allowances will go into it even in the areas of everyday life.

“The social climate fund will be financed from the new supplementary emissions trading system EU ETS 2, which will include all fossil fuels from 2027, i.e. emissions from road transport, building heating and other industry not included under EU ETS 1,” the Ministry of the Environment states.

It is this measure that, in addition to the gradual end of sales of cars with internal combustion engines, can affect the majority of society the most. Both fuel and building heating are charged with permits. According to estimates, this may mean an increase in the price of gasoline by up to three crowns per liter. You can read more here.