Filenews 30 June 2022 - by Chrysanthos Manolis
The information confirms that the operation of the competitive electricity market will not start next October, as was duly determined, after several postponements, but several months later. As "F" is informed, in a letter to Minister Natasa Pilides, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy, Kyriakos Hatzigiannis, predicts that there will be a six-month delay, an assessment that if confirmed postpones the start of operation of the competitive electricity market to April 2023, without this schedule even being considered safe.
The reason for the new delay, according to Mr. Hatzigiannis, is the delay in the submission, by the Ministry of Energy, of the regulations and service plans concerning the staffing of the Cyprus Transmission System Operator (TSO), based on the new organizational structure.
TSOC will be the service that manages the competitive market. We would like to remind you that about nine months ago, the Parliament approved a bill that makes the operation of the TSO independent from the EAC, in order to ensure the impartiality of the Operator in the management of the competitive electricity market. Until today, after the adoption of the legislation, the TSOC is staffed to a significant extent by employees who organically belong to the EAC. While the submission of regulations and a service plan for the now independent TSOC is delayed, the return to the EAC of its employees who currently work in the offices of the TSOC or their stay in the TSOC and their departure from the EAC, if they wish, will be delayed. At the same time, the recruitment of new staff, even a high-ranking one, is delayed to meet the needs that will arise in the Operator to undertake the duties of the Market Operator.
On June 7, the director of TSOC, Stavros Stavrinos, had briefed the parliamentary Energy Committee on the staffing problems that prevent the market from starting operations in October. In his letter to the Minister of Energy, Kyriakos Hatzigiannis refers to that meeting and points out that "the need was identified to expedite the submission of the relevant regulations and service plans concerning staffing, based on the new organizational structure of the TSOC". He also mentions that "the delay that is observed affects the credibility that the market needs to have, for a consistent transition. After the lapse of nine months from the adoption of the relevant legislation, it is considered that the conditions for the opening of the market have matured, if we take into account in particular the enormous work already carried out by the TSOC", notes the chairman of the competent committee.
The Chairman of the Energy Committee draws attention to the time needed to complete the procedures needed to staff the new organisational structure of the TSO and estimates that "it is expected that there will be about six months of deferral of market opening".
We would like to remind you that at the meeting of June 7, the director of the TSOC had, among other things, stated that "the delay observed for the completion of the processes of independence (ie. from the EAC) and staffing of the TSOC, is a deterrent to the whole effort and poses serious risks. In particular, the fact that the post of market operator remains vacant and that there are no shift of staff to take over the operation of the competitive electricity market are very, very serious issues that cannot be overlooked. Also, it cannot be overlooked that, according to the legal advisors of the TSOC, it is possible that there will be legal problems from the non-completion of the independence procedures of the TSO, with the risk of calling into question many of its actions and decisions."
