STA, 9 December - Amid rising energy prices, the government and the centre-left opposition are working on separate proposals to help the most vulnerable households with energy vouchers. The Infrastructure Ministry has indicated those could be available in the first quarter of 2022.
Energy prices are soaring across the EU, affecting companies as well as households where the biggest concern currently is hikes in the cost of heating, in particularly distance heating powered by natural gas or coal.
The Infrastructure Ministry has told the STA a legal basis for energy vouchers is being drafted. "As we expect prices for final consumers to rise mainly in heating, in the first quarter of next year, it makes sense to introduce the measure then, when the end users will need it the most."
Unofficially, 66,000 poorest families are to be eligible for the vouchers.
Meanwhile, the opposition Social Democrats (SD), Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), Left and the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) are finalising their bill on energy vouchers, which they plan to table on Monday.
Under the current draft, one out of six citizens would be eligible for EUR 150 vouchers. The EUR 25 million required is to be secured from the Climate Fund.
Presenting the proposal to reporters on Thursday, SD MP Franc Trček said they had made several appeals to the government over the past two months to tackle the aggravating energy poverty.
LMŠ deputy Edvard Paulič criticised Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec for his assessment in October that the energy market situation was stable. Instead the MP cited official statistics showing heating oil went up by about 44% in a year, fuel by 40% and power by 15% in what he said was the biggest hike in the EU.
Nataša Sukič of the Left said roughly 240,000 people faced the threat of "their radiators and furnaces being turned off because they cannot buy heating oil".
Solutions are also being sought at the local level. The Maribor city council has approved a plan to subsidise the cost of distance heating for households after the local utility hiked up prices by 120% year-on-year.
A survey by the Energy Agency focusing on nine Slovenian municipalities where almost 70% of the population gets their heating from distance systems has shown the cost for typical retail consumer has gone up by about 40% in a year.
