Portugal on half gas
A few weeks ago, we witnessed the prime minister’s unprecedented public rebuke to the president of Endesa for anticipating an increase in energy prices of around 40%. If to the decomposition of the data of small uncertainty, today with the confirmation of the increase in the costs of gas and electricity, the certainty is assured that Nuno Ribeiro Silva was right ahead of time.
EDP and Galp recently justify the decision to increase the monthly bill with the escalation of gas prices in international markets, a situation that is worsened with the drag on the conflict in Ukraine and the consequent bottlenecks and interruptions in the supply chains that come from there. came.
Portugal, like other countries, is paying the bill for years of wrong decisions, which have placed the supply, particularly the countries of Germany, in the hands of Russia. This clause requires that alternative sources be found that guarantee the regular supply of energy and that put an end to dependence on a single supplier. It is a problem whose urgency scales with the exact measure of the winter season.
European natural gas price indices have reached historic levels in recent weeks. In the quarter, the price per megawatt-hour (MWh) soared from €83 recorded at the beginning of June to around €242 in August, a value 1 higher than the last recorded in the same period of 2021.
In order to mitigate the impact of this increase, particularly on the business fabric and housing, the European Commission negotiated an agreement with all member states to reduce consumption by around 15%. In the same vein, Spain, France and Germany are taking extraordinary measures to reduce energy consumption, from raising thermostat temperatures, reducing public lighting and limiting the period authorized for the use of air conditioning. Switzerland, in turn, considers cutting electricity for up to four hours a day and the obligation to reduce electricity consumption in the business sector.
In Portugal, where a fifth of people live in poverty and a natural representative of energy gas, the priority of policy makers cannot be other energy that is not guaranteed to companies and families supplied without supply and within a quarter of energy affordable values .
* Jurist and manager