Mandatory limitation of network heat prices by producers and allowances for households using wood, pellets, LPG or fuel oil for heating – stipulated in the law signed by President Andrzej Duda on Saturday.
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Heat receiver support!
On the website of the President of the Republic of Poland, it was announced that President Andrzej Duda signed a law on Saturday on special solutions for certain heat sources related to the situation in the fuel market.
The new regulations in support of consumers of district heating provide for the obligation for producers to determine the price of heat – the so-called average heat price with compensation – PLN 150.95 per GJ net for heat generated in heat sources fired with natural gas or fuel oil , and PLN 103.82 per GJ net for heat generated in other heat sources.
According to the Regulatory Impact Assessment, setting such values means an average increase in recipient bills of 42%. If the actual costs of heat generation are higher due to the increase in fuel prices, heat producers applying the prices introduced by law are entitled to compensation as a result of this difference and the volume sold. Producers are financially liable for non-compliance with the law.
The fee can only relate to the sale of heat to households and entities specified in the Act, including: housing associations, cooperatives that supply heat to residential buildings, health, education, higher education and science institutions, nurseries, children’s clubs, churches and religious associations , cultural institutions, fire brigades, non-governmental organizations of public interest, social cooperatives. The compensation scheme will take effect from October 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023.
The law also introduces one-off surcharges for households heated with biomass, LPG or fuel oil boilers or stoves and to receive the surcharge, these sources must be registered in the Central Emission Registration Buildings. The fee is 3,000. PLN if the main heat source is a wood pellet boiler or any other type of biomass, excluding lump wood. In the case of the main heat source for lump wood, the fee is 1 thousand PLN. PLN, for LPG heating it is PLN 500, and for heating oil – PLN 2 thousand. zloty. Applications for the reimbursement are submitted to the local government – the municipal head, the mayor or the city president checks that they meet the entry in the CEEB. The payment of the allowance must be made within one month of submitting the application.
The new regulations also stipulate that the energy surcharge, including the CO2 surcharge, is paid per residential address.
The law also provides an allowance for sensitive entities. These are the entities mentioned above without households, which buy fuels themselves for heating purposes. This concerns: coal, briquettes, pellets with at least 85 percent. coal, biomass, LPG, fuel oil. The source must be entered in the CEEB. The surcharge is 40 percent. the difference between the assumed average annual purchase costs of fuel oil purchased in 2022 and the average purchase costs of the last two years.
The new regulations also assume that entities ordered by administrative decree to purchase and bring steam coal into the country – i.e. PGE Paliwa and Węglokoks – will be allowed to take out loans, raise limits on guarantees or bank notes, and obtaining credit limits for cash transactions to cover the risk of exchange rate volatility or the risk of coal price volatility. These obligations are to be guaranteed up to PLN 21 billion by the Treasury.
The law assumes that in 2023, by resolution of the State Agency for Strategic Reserves, the Council of Ministers can provide an interest-free loan from the state budget of up to PLN 8.6 billion for – as defined – financing tasks related to countering crisis situations in the market. energy sources. If the Prime Minister decides to buy RARS power coal from PGE Paliwa and Węglokoks, the Agency can take out a loan of up to PLN 8.6 billion from BGK with guarantees from the Treasury.
The law also includes an amendment to the Fuel Quality Act, which introduces the possibility to withdraw solid fuel quality standards for up to two years if “extraordinary market events occur”. The exemption does not apply to sludge, flotation concentrates and lignite. Another provision in the law allows heating installations above 1 MW to deviate from the emission standards for a maximum of 120 days under conditions referred to as “threat to the security of heat supply”. Dangerous conditions do not include, for example, low-sulphur coal or disruptions in the supply of substances used in nitrogen oxide reduction plants.
The law allows local governments to donate nearly PLN 13.7 billion
Even in 2022, local governments will be able to receive nearly PLN 13.7 billion from additional revenues from the PIT tax – envisaged in the law signed by President Andrzej Duda on Saturday. Each of the municipalities will receive no less than PLN 2.8 million; poviats not less than 6 million PLN; voivodeship no less than PLN 32.6 million.
As announced on the website of the President of the Republic of Poland, President Andrzej Duda also signed an amendment to the Local Government Units Income Act and certain other laws on Saturday.
Thanks to the change, it will be possible – in 2022 – to transfer almost PLN 13.7 billion to local government units. This money has, among other things, compensate for losses in current income, they can be used for investments; they can and should also be spent on improving energy efficiency.
Additional funds (to the tune of almost PLN 13.7 billion) are two component amounts. The first, amounting to PLN 7 793 million, refers to the amount of the development part of the general grant, which would be transferred to municipalities, poviats and voivodships in 2023 respectively.
The second component amount (PLN 5 880 million) corresponds to the development part of the general grant and will be divided into parts for individual types of local government units, i.e. municipalities, poviats and voivodeships, in proportion to the share of income from shares in PIT revenue planned for 2023.
According to the new regulations, the amount of almost PLN 7.8 billion must be distributed among: municipalities – for an amount of more than PLN 5.7 billion; poviats (more than PLN 1.6 billion); Voivodeship (over PLN 434 million). Thanks to the amendment, each municipality will receive no less than PLN 2.8 million; poviats not less than 6 million PLN; voivodeship no less than PLN 32.6 million.
The law obliges local government units to spend on tasks related to improving energy efficiency and developing renewable energy sources for an amount not less than the equivalent of 15%. amounts of additional income received in 2022 due to the share of the income tax revenue.
The change also includes an increase to 5.75%. the share of the Metropolitan Association of Śląskie Voivodeship in the personal income tax income of taxpayers of this tax resident in the territory of that union.
The new regulations also stipulate that they will not receive a share of the general development grant in 2023 due to the previous financial support to local governments.
The law also includes provisions on, among other things, creating regulations that would allow co-financing of ferry crossings until the bridge or tunnel is commissioned, replacing the current ferry crossing. The idea is to prevent ferry crossings from being subsidized from the budget after completion of the bridge or tunnel.
The amendment also foresees a doubling of the funds allocated to the so-called TSO rescue allowances, which are paid to those who have already retired. As the government representative explained during work on the bill in the Sejm, the increase in resources is due to a greater than previously estimated number of people entitled to such compensation.
olnk / PAP
Source: wPolityce