Power consumption charged by the hour

A new rate category for electricity will be introduced within the year that will charge use by businesses in real time, every 15 minutes, affording them the opportunity to reduce their energy costs.

This new, "dynamic" type of invoicing will allow consumers, as far as possible, to transfer their consumption to low-cost hours, which is usually lunchtime, when the output of photovoltaics peak.

The Environment and Energy Ministry, in collaboration with energy regulator RAAEY and energy providers, is currently preparing the framework for these dynamic invoices, which will, however, leave out domestic consumers. This is because a prerequisite for real-time kilowatt-hour measuring and billing is the installation of smart meters, which has been a strategic project of the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (DEDDIE) for at least 10 years.

In the first...