Spain launches €3 billion package to help households with energy bills
Details of a new package of measures worth €3 billion to "reinforce the protection" of vulnerable citizens challenged daily by soaring energy prices were unveiled by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez before parliament on Thursday (13 October).
The package comes two days after the National Council of Ministers approved the Energy Savings Plan to mitigate the harsh impact of inflation derived from the war in Ukraine.
The new set of measures to benefit some 1.7 million households which amount to about 40% of the population, will be formally approved by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday (18 October).
The new measures are necessary because “we cannot prevent Putin’s war” nor its economic consequences, said Sanchez, noting that “no government in the world can do it”.
“We can cushion the economic impact of Putin’s war on the social majority of the country and the most vulnerable groups. We are doing so, and we will continue to do so”, the socialist politician added.
Sánchez also confirmed that his government also adopted three measures, like the subsidy for homeowners’ associations with centralised boilers, as previously announced by Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera.
Meanwhile, Sánchez confirmed that a special tariff will be created to limit quarterly energy price increases, to be implemented until the end of 2023.
Regarding the most vulnerable households, Sánchez stated that the social energy bonus would be reinforced by increasing the amount of energy eligible for a discount by 15%.
The discount percentage will also be increased to 65% and 80% for vulnerable and severely vulnerable families, respectively, a measure worth €255.
On top of these extraordinary measures, the prime minister announced the creation of a “temporary” new category of electricity consumers entitled to a 40% discount on their bills, which will be aimed at those “households with low-income workers”, a measure aimed at 1.5 million vulnerable households.
The so-called thermal bonus will be reinforced in 2022 and 2023 for vulnerable households, doubling the budget in both years by raising the amount of the minimum subsidy to €40 – the cost of about two butane gas canisters, as Sánchez pointed out – doubling the amount of the average subsidy to €375 per household.
Read original full article
#Electricity
#Government Policies
#Investment
#Social & Economic
Atlantis Viewpoint
It is good that Spain is stepping in to ensure that the most vulnerable in their society can still afford to heat their homes in the winter and hopefully afford their yearly energy bills.
Nevertheless, €3 billion is a large amount for the government to spend on cushioning people's energy costs. It is a shame that more investment like this hasn't been put in to Europe's own internal clean energy production over the past decades, that way no matter what is happening in Europe or even the rest of the world this would not have such an affect Spain or the EU’s energy supply, as so much would be generated within the country or by neighbouring allies, that the public would be protected
We have relied on old foreign fossil fuel supply for far too long. This makes countries vulnerable to dangerous outside influence. The supply of energy is essential for the economy, the military, our emergency services and people's day to day lives.
We must start producing a massive amount of true clean energy with the EU, Spain, Britain and other countries to protect people's health, the planets health and our basic economic & social infrastructure.
+34 910 180 818 
+44 20 3514 1012 
