Enemalta's warning that electricity demand is no longer simply reaching a daily peak, but remaining close to peak levels for much longer, should be taken seriously - by the company itself and by the government which owns it.

It is not merely a matter of consumers using a little more electricity during particularly hot afternoons. It points to a fundamental change in the way Malta consumes energy - one that the country's electricity distribution network must be capable of handling.

Enemalta says demand has remained between 680MW and 700MW over the past month, with consumption rising from around midday and staying elevated until late in the evening. The traditional pattern, in which demand eased between the afternoon peak and the evening increase as people returned home from work, is changing.

The reason is not difficult to identify. Malta is experiencing increasingly intense periods of heat, and air-conditioning has moved from being a luxury for some households to an essential part of everyday life for many. Eurostat figures cited by Enemalta show just how dramatically household electricity consumption has increased, rising by almost 66% between 2015 and 2024 - by far the largest increase in the European Union.

This summer has also demonstrated what happens when extreme temperatures coincide with an electricity system under pressure. Malta has experienced widespread power cuts, causing considerable disruption to households and businesses. It is difficult to remember a summer with so many prolonged spells of excessive heat. More importantly, there is little reason to assume that this will be an exceptional occurrence in the years ahead.

Climate patterns are changing, and Malta must prepare for summers in which very high temperatures are more frequent and last for longer periods. Electricity infrastructure has to be planned for the country Malta is becoming.

Enemalta has faced criticism over the fact that its distribution network has not kept pace sufficiently with rising demand. Whatever the precise causes of individual outages, the broader issue is clear: generating or importing enough electricity is of limited value if the distribution network cannot reliably deliver it to homes and businesses.

This is where the government has a responsibility. Enemalta is a State-owned company, and ensuring that Malta has a reliable electricity supply is ultimately a matter of public policy. Investment in the distribution network cannot be treated as an afterthought while electricity demand continues to rise.

It is encouraging that plans are advancing for a second and third interconnector with Sicily. Additional interconnection will give Malta greater access to electricity and strengthen the security of supply. But more electricity coming into Malta will not solve the problem if the local grid cannot distribute it efficiently and reliably.

The priority, therefore, must be sustained investment in the network: substations, cables, transformers and other infrastructure must be upgraded and expanded in anticipation of future demand, rather than after problems have already emerged.

Malta's population continues to grow, while households are becoming increasingly dependent on electricity for cooling and other everyday needs. The demand figures being reported by Enemalta should therefore be viewed as a warning about the future, not simply a description of one unusually hot summer.

Consumers can and should use electricity responsibly. But efficiency campaigns cannot substitute for infrastructure investment.

Malta needs an electricity network capable of coping with the realities of modern life and the hotter summers that are increasingly becoming part of it. Enemalta must keep upgrading the grid, and the government must ensure that it has the resources and direction to do so.