The Malta Resources Authority – the national regulator for energy and water production companies – has told MaltaToday it is reviewing the process by which Enemalta increased its energy surcharge from 50% to 95% on energy bills.
However, it will not make the review public, citing “sensitive commercial information”.
Changes in the price of energy, such as the surcharge added to consumer bills by Enemalta, are always subject to the MRA’s review, which is the authority responsible for ensuring whether price increases are justified or not.
The MRA obliges Enemalta to follow and comply with a methodology established in a report the authority had presented to the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development in May 2006.
A spokesperson for the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs said Enemalta was “adhering to the agreed mechanism and is not including in its working unauthorised costs such as internal inefficiencies” – which means the surcharge can only be based on actual fuel price costs, and not operational costs incurred by the corporation itself.
The mechanism used for the working of the fuel surcharge has been established since October 2005. Final figures of fuel prices and the surcharge that are passed to the consumer are “responsive to cost of fuels as purchased by Enemalta and subsidies paid by Government to assist certain classes of consumers”.
The spokesperson added that the cost of fuel to Enemalta is dependent on the international price of fuel and any commercial arrangements entered into by the corporation with its suppliers.