Immediate relief measures can still be taken to cushion the expected rise in energy costs, scientific and technical chamber (Etek) president Constantinos Constanti said in a written statement, while warning that longer-term solutions for cheaper electricity will require major public investment.

He said the measures cited by the auditor-general as potential routes to lower-cost electricity would depend on extensive state spending, the burden of which would ultimately fall on consumers and taxpayers.

Constanti repeated Etek’s call for regulation in the competitive electricity market, so that part of the financial benefit arising from commercial photovoltaic parks and private commercial storage is passed on to consumers through a lower kilowatt-hour price.

He said this was necessary because such projects operate at lower costs than conventional generation, while the public will still be expected to shoulder the cost of wider infrastructure investment.

The Etek president also said Cyprus should immediately examine a mechanism to adjust the cost of carbon dioxide in the wholesale electricity market, adding that this accounts for 19 per cent of the average household electricity bill in Cyprus, compared with a European average of 11 per cent.

At the same time, he said the current situation offered a good opportunity to return to the principle of energy efficiency first, arguing that in an isolated electricity system such as Cyprus’, with sharp seasonal swings in demand, excessive emphasis on renewable energy production may be politically attractive but comes with structural limitations.

He added that shifting from individual grants to tax incentives would be a more stable and effective approach, as it would support long-term planning and reduce distortions.

Constantis also called on the state to show greater care for vulnerable consumers, saying support should go beyond existing practices and involve a more active role by the authorities in cooperation with the relevant social services.

He said intervention should not depend solely on whether vulnerable households are able to submit applications, co-finance projects or navigate procedures on their own.

In this context, he called for the registration, assessment and prioritisation of vulnerable households facing energy poverty, followed by action through a central mechanism to replace old energy-intensive refrigerators and portable heating devices, or introduce other immediate, low-cost energy efficiency measures, with proper attention paid to safety.

Constanti added that in Cyprus, taxes and revenues linked to CO2 make a significant contribution to the state budget, and said that this dependence, combined with long-standing distortions in the market, continues to weigh on households and businesses.

That, he said, further underlines the need for transparency in the management of energy revenues and for mechanisms that would return extra income generated by the current energy crisis to society, so that energy acts as a lever for development rather than a tool for collection.