The non-governmental organizations Eko-team and Action for Social Justice, with the support of WWF Adrija, submitted two more initiatives to the Constitutional Court today for the evaluation of the constitutionality of the provisions of the Energy Act, which refer to small hydroelectric power plants (MHP) projects.
WWF Adria explained that both initiatives were submitted due to the violation of the principle of equality.
"The first is to request an assessment of the provisions that do not require a competitive bidding process based on clear, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria for the construction of energy facilities with a capacity of up to one megawatt (MW)," stated WWF Adria.
This procedure is required for facilities with a capacity of more than one MW, and both implement the same incentive measures, which violates the equality guaranteed by the Constitution.
WWF Adrija said that the second initiative calls for an assessment of the constitutionality of one of the approved privileges for producers of electricity from renewable sources, that is, the exemption of such producers from paying the costs of balancing the system.
Eco-team and Action for Social Justice submitted a separate initiative last week, which requested an evaluation of the constitutionality of the provisions of the Law on Energy, which concern the status of temporary privileged producers of electricity from MHP.
Eco-team and Action for Social Justice appealed to the Constitutional Court to consider the initiatives as soon as possible, in the context of the so far demonstrated harmful effects of MHP projects on the environment and consumer spending.
"How much of a blow to consumers' pockets is best shown by the recently published data that from the middle of 2014, when the first MHP started operating, until the end of November last year, EUR 13 million in subsidies were paid for electricity from 13,4 MHP" , said the Action for Social Justice.
They added that in the same period, consumers paid EUR 40 million for technical losses in the distribution network, and that according to them, it would have been fairer if subsidies, instead of private investors, had been used to cover those losses.
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