Energy voucher and electricity prices in the second half of 2024, revision of the National Reconstruction Plan and the state's long-term financial plan. These are three projects that the government may deal with next week. This is according to the announcement of Maciej Berek, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers.
A meeting of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers will be held next Monday at 11 a.m. The Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers is a subsidiary body of the government and the prime minister. Its task is to initiate, prepare and agree on decisions or positions of the Council of Ministers or the head of government.
According to the agenda of the meeting, the Committee is to deal with, among others: a draft act on the energy voucher, a draft resolution of the Council of Ministers on amending the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and a draft resolution of the Council of Ministers on the Multiannual State Financial Plan for 2024-2027.
“On Monday at the Committee of the Council of Ministers, and immediately afterwards at the government meeting,” Maciej Berek, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers, wrote on website X. “Important projects, serious discussions and the best possible decisions – good for the economy and protecting the economically weaker,” he added.
The agenda of the next meeting of the Council of Ministers, which will most likely take place on Tuesday (April 30), has not yet been published on the government website.
Electricity prices in the second half of 2024
The draft act on the energy voucher and amending certain other acts was prepared by the Ministry of Climate and Environment. The proposal is a consequence of the fact that the current regulations on freezing energy prices expire at the end of June. The government does not plan to freeze prices in their current form. Instead, households in the second half of this year, among others, will be able to receive an energy voucher.
To receive a voucher, you will need to submit an application to the municipality. The application template will be made available by the Minister of Climate.
The energy voucher will have a value ranging from PLN 300 to even PLN 1,200. The project proposed division into four groups of households:
- for a household run by a single person – PLN 300,
- for a household consisting of 2 to 3 people – PLN 400,
- for a household of 4 to 5 people – PLN 500,
- for a household consisting of at least 6 people – PLN 600.
People using a heating source powered by electricity (e.g. a heat pump or a storage furnace) will be entitled to higher benefit amounts:
- for a household run by a single person – PLN 600,
- for a household consisting of 2 to 3 people – PLN 800,
- for a household of 4 to 5 people – PLN 1,000,
- for a household consisting of at least 6 people – PLN 1,200.
The income criterion will apply to the payment. According to the project, the benefit in full amounts will be awarded to households whose income does not exceed PLN 2,500 per person in a single-person household or PLN 1,700 per person in a multi-person household.
At the same time, the so-called PLN for PLN principle, i.e. an energy voucher will be granted even if the income criterion is exceeded, and the amount of the voucher will be reduced by the amount of this excess. The minimum amount of energy vouchers paid will be PLN 20. Below this threshold, the benefit will not be paid.
In addition, the project envisages imposing an obligation on energy companies to submit for approval to the President of the Energy Regulatory Office a change in tariff with a validity period of no less than December 31, 2025. “The expected effect will be a reduction in the level of electricity prices applicable in household tariffs,” the Ministry of Climate emphasized.
The project also assumes the extension of the maximum price mechanism for electricity. In the second half of 2024, this price is to be PLN 500 per MWh for households and PLN 693 per MWh for local government units, public utility entities and small and medium-sized enterprises. Electricity sellers will receive compensation for applying the maximum price.
Revision of the National Reconstruction Plan
The Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy is responsible for the draft resolution of the Council of Ministers on amending the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The government explains that “the main purpose of the proposed changes to the KPO is to ensure the possibility of further, effective implementation of the KPO goals by adapting the obligations regarding the implementation of indicators and milestones to real implementation possibilities in connection with emerging new socio-economic challenges and threats.” “The assumption for the revision of the KPO is to limit it to absolutely necessary changes and, in principle, to maintain reforms and investments that are particularly important for development and social purposes,” it was assured.
The KPO revision covers 11 out of 55 reforms (eight from the grant part and three from the loan part) and 22 out of 56 investments (14 from the grant part and eight from the loan part). According to the draft revision, EUR 1,113 million (approximately PLN 4.8 billion) is to be allocated to support the development of a low-emission economy.
From the released funds from the grant part, the following will be transferred to the loan part: EUR 140 million (approximately PLN 600 million) for thermal modernization in multi-family buildings; EUR 600 million (approximately PLN 2.5 billion) for building food security and shortening supply chains and agriculture 4.0; EUR 493 million (approximately PLN 2.1 billion) to equip schools/institutions with ICT devices and infrastructure; EUR 150 million will be transferred from the loan part (with the budget increased to EUR 300 million) to implement investments in long-term and geriatric care in district hospitals.
The National Reconstruction Plan for Poland amounts to EUR 59.8 billion (EUR 34.5 billion in loans and EUR 25.3 billion in grants) and includes 55 reforms and 56 investments. In line with EU goals, a significant part of the KPO budget is to be allocated to climate goals (46.6%), digital transformation (21.3%), as well as social reforms (22.3%).
Financial plan
The third project is in the hands of the Ministry of Finance. This is an important document. The Multiannual State Financial Plan for 2024-2027 will constitute the basis for preparing the assumptions of the draft state budget and the draft budget act for 2025.
“(…) the government, by May 10 of each year, presents to the Council the Multiannual State Financial Plan containing the Convergence Program, which specifies a preliminary forecast of the basic macroeconomic values constituting the basis for work on the draft budget act for the following year” – explained in announcements for the project.
Main photo source: PAP/Radek Pietruszka