The Government stops the approval of the renewable energy fund and a cut to electricity companies due to the lack of support

The Government stops the approval of the renewable energy fund and a cut to electricity companies due to the lack of support

Due to a lack of parliamentary support and on the eve of the new Royal Decree-Law that it plans to approve this Saturday to try to curb inflation, the Government has decided to postpone the approval of two key laws in the energy sector, at least until September: the fund for gas and oil companies also contribute to financing the cost of premiums for renewables and the cut in extra income for electricity companies due to non-emitted CO2. This is how El Confidencial advances this Friday and is confirmed by sources familiar with the process.

The intention of the PSOE and United We Can was to approve these laws in committee next Tuesday to send them to the Senate. But, on the eve of the new legislative package, in which the coalition partners negotiate, among other measures, raising taxes on energy and direct aid for vulnerable households, they have decided that these laws will be debated as early as September.

Parliamentary sources explain that both measures conflict with those that will be approved this Saturday. "It makes no sense that on the one hand fossil fuel subsidies are extended" and on the other a surcharge is introduced, through that renewable fund, the effect of which would translate into a lowering of the electricity bill at the expense of to make fuel and gas more expensive. In addition, parliamentary support was not clear, especially from the PNV and ERC. The idea is to wait until September to see if the situation is different then.

Oil, gas and industrial employers they had rushed efforts in recent days to try to stop the National Fund for the Sustainability of the Electric System (FNSEE)the mechanism to remove the cost of the old renewable energy premiums from the electricity tariff and charge it to the entire energy sector.

At a time of upheaval in the energy markets due to the war in Ukraine, in recent days pressure had been redoubled from different associations against the measure, announced by the Government in December 2020, included in the recovery plan and which Endesa or Iberdrola applaud, while the employers of the oil companies, AOP, the Sedigás gas company and the industry had been against it.

The FNSSE aims to give signs of electrification of the economy and cut the charges that currently involve the costs associated with the specific remuneration regime for renewables, cogeneration and waste (known as RECORE), which finances the bubble premiums of the first decade of this century. The idea is to distribute the effort that until now has fallen exclusively on electricity consumers to the entire energy sector and bring the Spanish model of financing these incentives closer to that of other European countries such as France or Germany, gradually freeing the electric bill.

This fund was proposed so that the group of marketers would cover it progressively (at a rate of 20% of the amount to be financed each year for five years, until reaching 100%) the contributions of the marketer companies of all the energy sectors in based on your sales. PP and Vox have rejected it since its parliamentary process began.

In the case of the mechanism for reducing the extra income of power plants that do not emit CO2 (mainly nuclear and hydroelectric) and that benefit from the rise in emission rights, the bill, highly criticized by the electricity companies, It was presented almost a year ago and it was also scheduled to be voted on in the Ecological Transition Commission of Congress next week.

Eventually you will have to wait even longer. The project, presented just when electricity prices were beginning to skyrocket (although at very moderate levels when compared to those reached after the crisis in Ukraine), was the first measure presented by the Executive to cut the so-called benefits of the electric heaven. and was highly criticized from the start by the electricity companies, which They even threatened with an early closure of the nuclear if applied.

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