Unpaid electricity bills in Greece have reached roughly 3 billion euros. More than half of that debt, 1.525 billion euros, belongs to former customers of power companies who practice so-called “energy tourism,” exploiting loopholes in the Electricity Supply Code to hop between providers and avoid paying what they owe.
Cracking down on strategic non-payers
The burden of unpaid electricity bills falls on consistent bill payers, who pay nearly 0.06 euros extra per kilowatt hour in their rates. Competition in retail electricity is also being undermined by the problem.
The Ministry of Environment and Energy announced it’s moving to amend the Electricity Supply Code, aiming to effectively address strategic non-payers, protect consistent consumers, and strengthen the smooth functioning of the electricity market.
The decision was signed today, August 20, by Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou and Deputy Minister Nikos Tsafos, following approval from the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water (RAAEY) and an extensive public consultation.
The Ministry, working closely with RAAEY, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (DEDDIE), and electricity suppliers, developed a new, balanced framework that effectively targets abusive practices without disproportionately restricting the right to switch providers. The framework is designed to protect consistent consumers, who until now have borne the cost created by strategic non-payers and so-called “energy tourists.”
The debt flagging system
The new regulation introduces, for the first time, a debt flagging system, through which suppliers will be able to flag consumers with overdue debts to DEDDIE. Once a consumer accumulates three flags, they won’t be able to switch providers until they settle their debts, either through payment or a repayment plan.
In simpler terms, if a strategic non-payer who has been switching providers to exploit the loophole gets flagged as non-compliant by three different electricity suppliers, they will be blocked from switching to yet another provider. They’ll have to pay off their old debts first, which will apply retroactively back to 2024.
Notably, despite suppliers’ proposal to also give a customer’s former provider the ability to cut off their electricity, the Ministry of Environment and Energy did not adopt that request.
The new framework will take effect immediately after the ministerial decision is published in the Government Gazette. It’s expected to help reduce overdue debts and bad debt risk in the electricity market, gradually leading to a fairer distribution of costs between households and businesses.
