The Malta Independent has filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for a copy of the agreement signed with the ElectroGas Malta Consortium to build a new gas-fired power station in Delimara by next March.

The agreement was signed in secret last Friday: the Energy Ministry neither invited the media nor issued a media release on the day, and only confirmed that the signing took place days later.

In contrast, over the past year, the ministry had held news conferences to announce that the bids were submitted, that a shortlist was made, and that ElectroGas was declared to be the preferred bidder. The government has also recently sent letters to every household detailing how much they should expect to save on their utility bills, clearly with the upcoming European Parliament election in mind.

Earlier this week, a ministry spokesman told The Times that the agreement was signed behind closed doors because it was “impractical” to bring together all stakeholders in one place.

That may be so, but in any case, nothing prevented Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi from holding a news conference later in the day, and nothing prevented the common courtesy of properly informing the media of such an important development, if only through a short media release.

Dr Mizzi may even have opted to accompany Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to make the announcement, as was deemed necessary to announce, a few weeks ago, a €0.02 decrease in the price of a litre of petrol and a €1.30 decrease in the price of a 12kg LPG cylinder a few weeks ago.

However, no such conference was deemed necessary for what had been the cornerstone of the government’s electoral manifesto.

It is perhaps unlikely that the Energy Ministry or Enemalta will accede to the request for information, if the government’s response to past Freedom of Information requests is any indication. But even if certain details of the agreement are commercially sensitive, the law empowers public authorities to provide a copy of requested documents with sensitive details deleted.

But The Malta Independent believes that it is important for the public to be informed of as many details of the agreement as is feasibly possible, since it effectively grants ElectroGas a controlling interest in Malta’s energy generation for the next 18 years.

While the price of electricity is fixed for five years, it remains to be seen whether ElectroGas is free to increase tariffs as it sees fit when this period elapses – possibly undoing the benefits of the agreement in one fell swoop – or whether any limitations have been set out in the agreement.