Greeks Grapple With Energy Costs

Like many other European countries, Greece has been facing the challenge of the energy crisis in recent months.

The Russia-Ukraine war has created chaos not only in geopolitical terms but in the everyday lives of citizens across Europe.

Greeks are among those greatly affected, facing challenges on various fronts, including rising costs for electricity, fuel, and essential commodities.

The government has offered some help with electricity bills and fuel vouchers, but with price hikes affecting almost everything, it seems like a drop in the ocean.

With a gross monthly minimum wage of €713 ($728), salaries in Greece are considered low compared to other European countries. Greeks are struggling to get by, and with monthly electricity bills exceeding €1,000 ($1,022), a new crisis appears to be brewing.

The World Bank has warned that the war in Ukraine will not only drive up energy prices but also food costs for the next three years, resembling the crises of the 1970s.

"Of course, we are worried about the soaring prices of almost all essential goods," Kalliopi Stavraki told Anadolu Agency.

Kalliopi lives with her 90-year-old mother, who has a respiratory condition and needs breathing support.

"I am even considering the hours that I will use the air conditioning because her pension cannot cover these huge electricity bills," she added.

She is even considering using renewable energy sources, like solar panels.

The increases in the prices of almost everything, including fuel, have forced many Greeks like Kalliopi to use their cars less to get around.

She said she plans all her errands ahead of time to complete them all in one day.

Businesses, charities struggle with energy costs

Despite the benefits that the government has announced for households and small- and medium-sized businesses, the burden is still high.

Julie Kelley is the founder and chairman of the board of directors of Let's be S.M.A.R.T., an international animal welfare organization that has a cat sanctuary outside Athens.

Kelley recently received a bill for €13,000 ($13,281) at her sanctuary.

"We were just in shock when we received our bill at the beginning of 2022. Who could even imagine that it would be more than five times the normal charges? I went to the Public Power Corporation -- DEH -- with my electrician, and no one was able to do a thing ... They just shrugged their shoulders. It was very frustrating. I said we are a cat shelter. How can it even be possible?"

Kelley fears that this will put the shelter in jeopardy if these bills continue.

"I cannot personally pay for all of this, along with all our other expenses," she said.

"How can you shut down a shelter with so many cats? ... And we are making the minimum payments and hope we can get more fundraising, especially because it has to do with animals and their well-being."

Bills through the roof

"The prices of all our operating costs, as well as our invoices, have increased, and not only this: We couldn't increase our prices to balance it," Armando Pierjovanni, who runs a coffee shop, told Anadolu Agency.

At the beginning of the energy crisis, he received an electricity bill three times higher than usual.

It is not only the electricity, but he also said. The prices of sugar, dairy products, and cold cuts have also increased by almost 30%, while his profits have only fallen.

All this is a nightmare for 65-year-old upholstery shop owner Thodoris, who preferred to be referred to by only his first name.

Just a few years from retirement, he said he might have to keep working at his shop in a suburb of Athens, as his pension would not be enough to make ends meet for him and his wife.

"Our bills are immense. Everything has become so expensive that I can't afford to work," he told Anadolu Agency.

Thodoris has been working for more than 40 years and is eagerly awaiting his retirement to finally rest.

He received a bill of €1,200 ($1,226) for electricity for just one month -- three times what he used to pay.

The electricity company told him the bill was due to the recent increases in the adjustment clause which pushed the already soaring energy prices even higher.

He is among many Greeks who are faced with huge energy bills after prices skyrocketed.

But, Thodoris said he is worried about this winter, noting that using heating oil would be out of the question.

"So, we are left with either the fireplace or electric heaters, which could cost me a fortune," he said.

But this coming winter, the problem might not be limited to surging prices, but supply itself, as households could face periodic outages, Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas told the Kathimerini daily.

If Europe plans or is forced to cut natural gas consumption by 15%, such measures would be necessary, he said, adding that municipalities would have to take measures such as removing light bulbs from street lamps, he said.

Local authorities take action

Kifisia, a suburb located 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Athens, has stepped up by taking part in SPARCS, a project to create a network of sustainable energy-positive and zero-carbon communities in five cities.

Through this project, it is adopting a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) with activities to be implemented by 2030 to safeguard the environment while promoting energy-friendly urban development.

"We have upgraded the energy efficiency of the private buildings that account for 99% of the total building stock of the municipality," Stavros Zapantis, deputy mayor of sustainable development, energy, and social services in Kifisia, told Anadolu Agency.

The city also replaced regular lamps with energy-efficient LED lamps on the streets, as well as in outdoor sports fields, while it plans to use drones to record energy losses in buildings.

The municipality is also planning to collaborate with Greenpeace to create the first municipal energy park in which citizens can own shares.

So, anyone can buy shares of the photovoltaic parks with as little as €1,000 that would be allocated around the city, resulting in a monthly reduction in electricity bills.

Zapantis also explained how Greece could face the smallest disruption to its natural gas supply for two reasons.

One of these is the country's liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the small islet of Revithoussa about 25 km (15.5 miles) west of Athens.

"To travel with special tankers, natural gas is liquefied. Liquefaction takes place through its cooling. Through cooling and liquefaction, there is a huge reduction in the volume of natural gas, so tankers transport very large quantities," he said.

The terminal receives special tankers and has huge tanks to store the LNG at very low temperatures and high pressures, said Zapantis.

Additionally, it is equipped to re-gasify the LNG and channel it into the pipeline system.

"This terminal in Revithoussa will not only serve us for our energy sufficiency, but it gives us the possibility through the existing pipelines to sell natural gas to our neighboring countries as well," he said.

"Another reason that we probably won't have a problem of natural gas sufficiency is that the pipeline that supplies Greece with the largest quantities passes through Türkiye, where due to the current geopolitical situation there will be no interruption of its flow," Zapantis told Anadolu Agency, referring to the state of relations between Ankara and Moscow. -