Households and businesses around Malta that experienced prolonged power cuts during the sweltering July heatwave will be entitled to a one-time ex-gratia payment.

However, conditions do indeed apply.

To be entitled to the payment, the power cut must have lasted six hours or longer, and it would have had to occur between the 17th and 27th of July.

“The one-time payment is being given due to the sustained and unprecedented heatwave that averaged more than 40 degrees Celsius, which affected the electricity distribution system,” a public statement issued by the Environment Ministry reads.

Ex-gratia means that payment is given as a favour or from a sense of moral obligation rather than because of any legal requirement.

The money will be granted in the form of credit to the person’s utility bill. The amount will be based on the average monthly consumption of households in June, July, and August of 2022 in tandem with how long the electrical disturbance lasted. 

So basically, the credit will be equivalent to the average monthly consumption of households and will increase according to the hours of interrupted service.

Accounts that have been already identified as impacted in Enemalta’s information system will receive the credit automatically; they will be notified via a letter through ARMS which will be sent out in the coming days.

Meanwhile, affected consumers who do not receive the letter can apply online through the ARMS website. The application opens on Monday 9th October.

Similarly, customers with domestic accounts are not included automatically, and in cases like summer residences, where people residing also experienced prolonged service interruption, consumers can too apply online.

Businesses with a commercial account will be entitled to an ex-gratia payment equivalent to one-month consumption calculated on the average consumption of that account in June, July, and August 2022.

The amount increases gradually depending on the number of hours impacted, capped at a maximum of €10,000 per account. The scheme will be operated in collaboration with Malta Enterprise and was discussed with all relevant stakeholders who supported it. 

Customers will see a credit line item directly on their ARMS bill indicating the payment provided as of the second week of October.

Businesses that experienced an interruption are to apply online, on electricitypayment.maltaenterprise.com; these applications open on 29th September and close at the turn of the new year – 31st December 2023.

While this is an endearing initiative, one can argue that the focus should be on fixing the electrical infrastructure of the islands to ensure that this does not happen again.

Of course, if this too is happening (which it doesn’t seem like it is), then additional compensation for citizens and businesses who suffered is a great additional bonus.

Do you think that this is an effective initiative?