“The critical issues” regarding the Cyprus–Crete (GSI) power interconnection “are still unresolved, and these will determine the final decisions to be made,” said AKEL Secretary-General Stefanos Stefanou following a meeting with the Energy Regulatory Authority (RAEK), during which he discussed electricity supply adequacy and security, as well as its price.
“The issue of the total cost remains open, as does the question of when the project will begin and when it will be completed,” “and the question of what it will ultimately cost the consumer remains open as well,” said Mr. Stefanou after the meeting held at the CERA offices, according to a party statement.
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He noted that any reasonable person might wonder, given that these issues remain unresolved, how decisions can be made about what will happen.
“We are still concerned about the possibility that we might pay a great deal of money and ultimately the project will not be carried out,” he added.
Mr. Stefanou said that “all of this should have been handled by the government, but unfortunately we continue to either hear different answers to the various questions we submit to the government, or to hear vague statements such as ‘the project will be carried out,’ without knowing what we will pay or what benefit consumers will derive in terms of electricity prices.”
Regarding electricity supply, safety, and high electricity prices, the AKEL Secretary-General said it has been confirmed that “what we are experiencing today in terms of supply, security, power outages, and the high price of electricity are primarily due to the fact that neither the current nor the previous government did what they should have done, so that we could have affordable electricity and sufficient power generation.”
“And our concerns have grown even greater, because we see that the outlook, unfortunately, is not promising,” he said, adding that “there are extremely serious problems that jeopardize both the adequacy of the electricity supply and the ability to keep prices in check, which are already far too high.”
Precisely because we have been warning about these issues for some time now—unfortunately, it seems, to deaf ears—as Mr. Stefanou said, “we have placed the issue on the agenda for Chapter D of the Parliament and it is expected to be discussed this coming Thursday, precisely to emphasize once again not only the responsibilities for the current situation—because there are responsibilities, and those who bear them must be held accountable —but above all to emphasize how we will continue to pressure the government to make decisions and move swiftly toward the proposed solutions, in order to address the issues of supply, security, and the high cost of electricity.”
“We will continue to do this work, because it is in the public interest; it is in the interest of the consumer, the average person, and the economy, which needs affordable energy and affordable electricity,” he concluded.
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Source: CNA
