Greece Warns Europeans Face a $395 Billion Hike in Energy Bills Next Year
Greece Warns Europeans Face a $395 Billion Hike in Energy Bills Next Year
(Bloomberg) -- Europeans will pay an additional 350 billion euros ($395 billion) in energy bills next year as global demand for fuel and power threatens to keep prices elevated, according to Greece’s energy minister.
Kostas Skrekas said a new mechanism to help shield the most vulnerable citizens and middle-sized businesses from price increases should be created at the European Union level. It came as officials from Hungary and Spain voiced concern about recent volatility in carbon-emission markets at a meeting of environment ministers in Brussels.
“In the face of this extraordinary situation, we cannot remain uninvolved,” Skrekas said. Greece had estimated earlier this year that Europeans would face an increase of 100 billion euros this winter alone.
Europe’s energy crunch is straining national budgets and has become one of the EU’s biggest political challenges, fueling inflation just as governments contend with the spread of the omicron virus variant. Member states have come forward with a number of proposals, from a redesign of how the electricity market works to caps on the bloc’s carbon trading market.
For its part, the European Commission has emphasized the need to shift to cheaper renewables. In October it put forward a toolbox of measures national governments could use to help support citizens struggling with the higher energy costs.
A global supply squeeze for natural gas, combined with low inventories, military tension on the Russia-Ukraine border and bottlenecks for renewable energy, have contributed to soaring prices for everything from electricity to coal. European gas futures have surged some 600% this year, while German year-ahead power and the French equivalent both rose to record highs Monday.
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