The latest revision in the electricity tariffs announced by the government last Wednesday will obviously create debate – the Nationalists will try to take advantage of the situation while Labour will complain that it is not enough.

The fluctuation in the price of energy is something that we will have to grow accustomed to. This is because Malta, so far, depends on fossil fuels to generate its power, and since the price of oil in the international market goes up and down, we have to get used to changes in the cost of the electricity we consume.

We seem to have accepted that the price of petrol and diesel for our cars rises and falls depending on the circumstances. Maybe this is because the difference – plus or minus – is of a few cents and this does not affect us that much, whereas the changes in the cost of power for our homes and businesses have been yo-yoing in much bigger margins.

Still, we should try to understand that we have to live with this situation, whether we like it or not. The price of oil shot up to unprecedented highs last summer, went down over winter as the world entered into a recession that meant lower demands, and will probably shoot up again once the economies start to pick up. This led to the price of electricity first going through the roof, now coming back down, and it probably will go up again.

We now have a system that allows for the price of energy to be changed according to what the country pays for the oil it purchases, rather than wait a year for the price to be adjusted. This, of course, works both in favour and against the consumer, but the mechanism that has been put in place ensures that people do not pay more than they should.

The reduction announced recently is not a political move by the government because the European Parliament and local council elections next month, although there will be some who will say so. If the price of oil had remained the same as it was last summer, there would have been no way that the price of electricity would have come down by 22 per cent for households and 25 per cent for businesses.

Still, the Nationalists will try to take as much political advantage from the situation as possible, while Labour will insist that the decrease was not what was expected from the consumer. They are also saying that the reductions should have been backdated to 1 October. It is a kind of game that is expected, especially when an election is approaching.

What must be kept in mind however is that, whatever price we are paying for electricity consumption, we should always do our best to save energy or, better, not to waste any. We have all received our electricity bills in recent weeks, and they probably were on the high side. Just remember that with a little bit of attention, we could have saved several euros if we had switched off the water heater during the night, or did not leave appliances on standby.

In this respect, the government should continue to insist with its campaign to encourage people to save energy. The Switch campaign started off with much fervour when the cost of power went up, but it should be kept alive even when the rates have gone down.

Like on everything else, people need to be constantly reminded of what they should do to save energy. They should not let go again just because the rates have gone down.