Esquerra’s parliamentary leader Josep-Maria Jové also denounces the unethical revolving doors of the predatory electric utilities oligopoly

The price of electricity is hitting historical highs every day and for Esquerra Republicana this “is not only difficult to understand, but unacceptable.” The leader of the Esquerra group in Parliament Josep-Maria Jové denounced that “we are suffering the economic predation of an oligopoly with unethical revolving doors” and defended the need for “brave steps” forward towards a public utility and renewables.

“Neither electric oligopoly nor the Castor model —a failed off-shore gas storage project—or any other mammoth free-for-all project. We have to get rid of the revolving doors and evict those who make the greatest profits just when the people are suffering most,” contended Mr Jové. And it was precisely last night when the latest electricity price record came: €256.33 per megawatt hour, €100 more than the historical peak that triggered all the alarms a month ago, and that was already four times more than a year earlier.

“While most people have to work out when to turn the lights on, others who control over 80% of the market are making millions and indecent profits,” said Esquerra’s parliamentary leader, who also noted that the Spanish government’s measures to deal with this situation “have come late and are poor. They do not want to get at the root of the problem.”

And for Esquerra Republicana, getting at the root of the problem means moving forward bravely towards a public system, as agreed at the beginning of the legislature: “We must do the job we committed to, a public energy utility, and a democratic energy system with participation of citizens and communities,” specified Mr Jové. He likewise emphasized the need to “put an end to the burden of dependence on gas and fossil fuels and to implement and deploy renewable, green energy.”

The Government’s green commitment

In his question time reply to Josep-Maria Jové, the President of the Catalan Generalitat government Pere Aragonès said that in the face of the “threat” that this price increase poses for households and economic recovery, “we will act and take steps forward.” On the one hand, the government is committed to replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, as well as reducing dependence on gas and oil to gain energy sovereignty.

And on the other hand, he defended reversing the current energy market concentration in just a few companies, along with the culture of revolving doors between the political and business spheres, to progress towards “a much more diversified, distributed model based on renewables, and with citizen participation through energy cooperatives.” In this model, Mr Aragonès contemplates a project establishing a public energy utility which “would serve to allow participation of the Generalitat in renewable energy projects,” he said.