A closely watched draft bill envisioning the sale of four lignite-fired power stations (one being a license for a future plant) and a further liberalization of the wholesale domestic electricity sector was passed by Greece’s Parliament on Wednesday by a slim majority of MPs representing the two coalition parties, SYRIZA and its junior partner, AN.EL party.
One-hundred and one deputies voted in favor, and 124 against.
Opposition MPs voted against, while three SYRIZA MPs and one elected with AN.EL were absent. A total of 25 deputies were absent from the roll-call vote.
The crucial 151st “yea” vote was cast by independent deputy Haris Theoharis, a former top finance ministry official in a previous coalition government who was elected to the current Parliament plenum with the centrist Potami party.
The EU Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) has long demanded that PPC, the dominant retail, wholesale and industrial electricity provider in the country, reduce its production capacity in favor of improved competition in the sector.
