Greens/EFA secure ban on disconnections & promote citizens' energy

Today, Members of the European Parliament have adopted the agreement on the reform of the European electricity market. In the negotiations, the Greens/EFA Group successfully pushed through a stop to electricity cuts in cases where people are unable to pay their electricity bills due to rising energy prices. In addition, the Greens/EFA Group initiative will make it easier to produce, use or sell back to the grid electricity from solar panels on roofs or balconies.

Michael Bloss MEP, negotiator for the Greens/EFA in the lead committee for industry, research and energy, comments:

"Nobody should have to live in the dark. In the negotiations we secured a victory for consumers and ensured an EU-wide ban on disconnections, in case households cannot afford paying their electricity bills.

“We have also gained greater support for small-scale power generation, so that it will be easy for people to install plug-in solar panels on their balconies and gardens. This can revolutionise small scale energy generation and will be a boost for renters and people living in apartments who want to enjoy the benefits of solar power. Consumers will have transparent, understandable electricity bills and the right to flexible electricity tariffs.

“All in all, the electricity market reform, which was widely labelled as a reorganisation of the European energy market, has ended up as a small reform with gifts for the coal and nuclear industries financed by taxpayers. The EU is missing the opportunity to bring about its climate-neutral future. We urgently need to correct this in the next legislature and set the course for clean energy."

More:

The reform of the electricity market will be governed by both a regulation and a directive. The stated aim of the reform to promote the expansion of renewable energies and to switch the electricity market from focussing on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas to renewable energies has not been achieved.