Mjaft! No to the raise of Electrik Energy Price from CEZ

Mjaft! No to the raise of Electrik Energy Price from CEZ

15.10.2009

All of us learned these days that the Albanian citizens, family people ore businesses rich people but particularly poor ones, do risk to face an irresistible price the electrical energy. It is irresistible , because under the conditions of an economic crisis, which is already recognized by the Albanian government, any kind of price raising of a vital product like electrical energy would place the Albanian consumers in front of serious difficulties, who are actually not treated with any kind of protection measures from the crisis effects.  
 
Distributor System Operator (DSO) has asked for a raise of the electric energy price as much as  18.7% more than the actual price for the family consumers and a considerable raising for the businesses, respectively 22.2% for the low electric tension(voltage), and 31.1% for the high electric tension(voltage). It is worth to mention that according to the official numbers of INSTAT, there have been a falling of the electric energy consumption from the businesses as much as 6.5 % for the first 6 months of the year 2009, compared with the same period of the previous year. This statistics expresses clearly for a decreasing of the business activity  during this year, being at the same time a significant sign of the influence of this sector out of economic crises. Under these circumstances , Mjaft! movement finds that a raise of the price of  electric energy for the business consumers would cause no repairable effects for the business community, striking heavily the whole country’s economy. 

Meanwhile, the family consumers risk to face another burden as much heavy as the raise of  the electric energy itself. The buyer of the DSO has asked the Energy Regulator Agency (ERA) to rule out the first amount of consumption as much as 300 kwh, known as the “poverty amount”, which is the only protection measure for the mass of people in desperate need. This means that 373 000 Albanian citizens, which are the poorest among us, will not have any kind of protection from the increasing expenditures for electric energy, who will suffer a worsening of the living conditions. Furthermore, the Albanian government does not have any defending alternative plan or compensation for the poor families, leaving this group of people totally uncovered towards proposed changes.    

Mjaft! movement requires  ERA not to accept the any price raising of the electric energy, either for the family consumers or for the business consumers. We lay the stress on the point that any proposal to increase the price of the electric energy is not logical, as long as we are having an increase of unjustified  loss of the electric energy  as much as 36 %  this year , comparing with 32 % in 2008.We also reason that it is unfair to increase the price of the electric energy as long as 94 000 consumers have not been furnished with electric energy consumption measure instruments and as long as the foreseen investments either from the government or from the buyer of the distributor system, CEZ Company.m  Additionally, at a time that the European countries, but either neighbour countries are implementing releasing financial measures towards the business and citizens to smooth the effects of the economic crisis, through legalizing the raise of the electric energy price, our government will overload furthermore the crisis effects on the Albanian citizens , effects which are already at their peak.