Officials on Tuesday reiterated there currently exists no practical way to bring down energy costs, which have a knock-on effect on the prices of goods, as one MP warned that certain segments of the population face “annihilation” due to the high cost of living.

At the House energy committee, MPs and officials continued debating the high cost of living impacting low-income households in particular.

Committee chair Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis (Disy) spoke of a lack of “trust” in those bodies tasked with tracking prices and commercial practices. He mentioned the energy regulatory authority, the Commission for the Protection of Competition and the Consumer Protection Service at the commerce ministry.

“Unless these institutions produce results of their work and their checks, I cannot trust them, and neither can the population,” he said.

The MP went on to assert that “certain categories of the population are at risk of [financial] annihilation. Expensiveness is no joke.”

Hadjiyiannis went on to level the accusation that, in Cyprus, energy is controlled by “a clique” which is “interconnected and has common interests and goals”.

Also taking part in the discussion was the chairman of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) who had to fend off criticism that his organisation isn’t doing enough to contain the price of electricity.

Giorgos Petrou conceded that the EAC lacks the technical savvy to purchase fuel whenever prices are relatively low. The EAC replenishes its fuel stocks approximately once a month, rather than buying in bulk once or twice a year. A major reason is that the organisation does not have the facilities to store massive amounts of fuel.

The EAC boss also had to address commentary made by the head of the Fiscal Council last week. Michalis Persianis had said the EAC has a great deal of “fat” which it could get rid of, in this way cutting the price at which it sells its electricity by up to 20 per cent.

Weighing in on this, a representative of the energy regulatory authority (Cera) told MPs that the “fat” referred to the EAC’s fixed costs. These are the operating costs, which include payroll. However, payroll accounts for just 9 per cent of the EAC’s budget.

Regarding the greenhouse gas emissions allowances that the EAC has to purchase, Petrou stated his organisation follows the practice of advance purchases.

“Today we purchased 800,000 allowances, of the three million we need, at an average price that does not exceed €64, compared to last year when they went for €84,” said Petrou.

“We buy [allowances] all the time and try to keep the price at €64, but in the event the price goes up we can use our cash reserves.”

Head of the Consumers Association Marios Droushiotis complained that the Statistical Service does not provide them with granular-level data so that they can calculate the real value of inflation.

Droushiotis said the service only provides “weighted prices”. When they requested the “actual prices” the department refused, he claimed.

The gist of the discussion came down to this: that there is essentially no wiggle room to drive down electricity prices unless and until the island switches to natural gas for energy generation.