Greek authorities urged households to switch back from using electricity for heating purposes to heating oil during the winter season.
The state is promoting the use of heating oil through subsidized prices and the increase of the heating oil allowance with an extra bonus for those who make the switch. This is expected to render the use of heating oil considerably cheaper than that of electricity or natural gas this winter.
Minister of Finance Christos Staikouras explained that that the Government will offer a subsidy of 0.25 euros per liter of heating oil to all consumers, on top of the heating allowance, which is increasing from an average of 300 to 350 euros, but will double to 700 euros for consumers who switch from electricity to oil for their heating. The criterion for receiving subsidies is also expanding many more consumers. The income threshold for single persons is increasing to 16,000 from the 14,000 euros that applied last winter, and to 24,000 euros from 20,000 euros for couples, with an increase of additional 3,000 euros for each dependent child.
According to Minister Staikouras, the cost of the Government intervention to deal with the rising energy costs will amount to 13.2 billion euros in 2022, of which 10 billion is related to the cost of subsidizing electricity and natural gas for households and businesses. 80 % of the total subsidy is directed to electricity, of which some 4.1 billion euros for residential consumers. A gas subsidy of 50 euros/MWh would produce costs of 1 billion euros, with about 320 million euros provided to households.
