The government announced the preparation of its own draft bill freezing the price of electricity to households from October. This is simply a direct consequence to the fresh veto of president Karol Nawrocki against the alleged Windmill Act, which, in addition to the liberalisation of regulations concerning land wind farms, included key provisions on maintaining the current price level. This situation undermines the stableness of Polish accounts in the coming months and exacerbates the political dispute over the directions of the country's energy policy. The fresh initiative is intended to guarantee that citizens do not experience drastic increases, but the details and timing of the implementation of the solutions stay crucial.
Presidential Veto and fresh Government Plan
President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the amendment of the Wind Energy Investment Act, arguing that a single bill contained provisions concerning both the liberalisation of the construction of windmills and the freezing of energy prices. Although the Act aimed at speeding up the energy transition by reducing the minimum distance between turbines and residential buildings (from 700 m to 500 m), it was during the seismic work that the provision on the extension of the current price frost by the end of this year became a point of dispute. In consequence to this veto, the government, through the energy minister Miłosz Motyki, clearly declared that he would prepare his own, separate project. "The president sent a task to the Sejm that vetoed. That's the logic behind it. We will prepare a task that we anticipate will meet with its signature, but it will be our project” – pointed out the head of the energy department, stressing that the function of the president is simply a substantive evaluation, not a sharing of the government's bill.
What next with the Price of Electricity for Poles?
At present, household electricity prices are frozen until the end of September. It is so crucial to adopt fresh rules rapidly to avoid drastic increases in bills as early as 1 October. The task that the president vetoed provided for price maintenance PLN 500 per MWh net for the 4th fourth of this year. Now that the government is preparing its own solutions, Poles are anxiously waiting for concrete solutions. Presidential Minister Karol Rabenda in a radio interview pointed out that if the government "does not take offense" and Parliament accepted the President's proposal to frost energy prices for the full year and not just until September, the prices would be frozen further. This suggests that the President's Chancellery prefers a long-term solution that goes beyond the 4th fourth itself. Regardless of political friction, the main nonsubjective of both parties is to defend consumers from a sharp increase in energy costs, which is crucial to the stableness of home budgets in the face of inflation.
Political Game of Accounts and Windmills
The situation around the energy price frost reveals deep political divisions. Minister Motyka stressed that the president would gotta look for a majority for his task in the Sejm, which could be a challenge in the current arrangement of forces. At the same time, the government has intensive discussions on the submission of a bill liberalising investments in land wind farms, but this time No disputed issues that could lead to another veto. The aim is to introduce rules that "are not controversial" to unlock investments in renewable energy sources as shortly as possible. This divided into 2 separate projects – 1 on energy prices, the another on windmills – seems to be a fresh government strategy to avoid legislative pacts and guarantee stableness in both electricity bills and renewable energy development. In the background, there is simply a question of willingness to cooperate and compromise between the government and the president.
Uncertainty and request for unchangeable Solutions
The deficiency of a long-term energy price plan beyond the current year poses a major challenge to economical stableness and home budgets. A typical of the President's office rightly noted that even if prices were frozen by the end of the year, "we do not know what will happen from January." He emphasized that the government should plan specified solutions for longer, so that Poles are not constantly amazed by abrupt decisions. Uncertainty about future energy prices makes spending and investment planning hard for both households and businesses. It is crucial that current political friction does not obscure the urgent request to guarantee predictable and unchangeable energy costs for Poles. The government is expected to make concrete proposals as shortly as possible, which will gain broad support and avoid energy marketplace chaos in the coming months.
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Electric prices have been frozen since October? The government has a fresh plan after the President's veto.
