Malta, like any other country that has no oilfields and therefore is not self sufficient, is facing a crisis in its energy generating costs which, if not tackled, will ultimately be borne by society in general. Recently, a number of viable solutions were floated around, which however tend only to address the problem overtime. These solutions included attaching Malta’s energy grid to that of Europe and/or making use of natural gas to operate our power stations. Both strategies are interesting options, but do not solve our immediate short-term drain of financial resources.

Another less plausible solution was the suspension of the Mater Dei hospital project for the next two years, as proposed by Alternattiva Demokratika, so we can finance the increases in the international price of oil. This option, in my opinion, exposes Alternattiva as a political group that lacks basic public policy skills. Sadly, Alternattiva politicians are not the only members of the political class who are mishandling this crisis. Politicians from both sides of the political divide are more interested in vote saving short-term policies than taking the appropriate measures. Energy has a price and like any other commodity the price mechanism has to resolve the issue. So long as the full cost of producing energy is not passed on to the consuming public, Maltese society will continue to spend millions of pounds producing wasteful energy.

If the full cost per unit of energy used is passed on to the consumer, the consumer will only use the energy requirements that he/she really needs. Similarly, the consumer will substitute energy wasting devices and appliances with more efficient alternatives. The demand for energy will be such that less crude oil will be needed to operate our power generating plants, hence the fuel bill of the country would be drastically reduced. At the end of the day it is us, the consumers, who will benefit from lower cost of energy, since we would be paying only for what we need and not for what we waste.

Subsidiaries have failed to make our shipbuilding and repair industries competitive. They only resulted in a financial deficit, which has become unsustainable. Subsidising energy costs in one form or another only accommodates the political ambitions of policy makers. The country needs to wake up to the economic fact that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Ray Buttigieg

BIRKIRKARA