Poles fear winter without electricity and heating

Regarding energy, Poland is on the brink of a crisis, and all indications are that the heating season will be even worse. What are Poles most afraid of? Here are the results of an IBRIS survey for Bizblog.pl.

As many as 24.2 percent of Poles fear that in the winter, the raw materials for heating, namely coal and gas, will not be available in Poland at all, according to a survey by IBRiS for Bizblog.pl. Who fears the coming winter more? Not the poor at all. Higher heating bills are most feared by those earning PLN 5,000-7,000 net (almost 73 percent), while in the group making PLN 2,000-3,000, 43 percent have such concerns. Nearly 30 percent of young people aged 18-29 also worry about power cuts.

In the Financial Times daily, Prime Minister Morawiecki announced a return to coal and argued that the current CO2 emissions trading system fuels inflation and threatens millions of citizens with energy poverty. The Minister of Climate and Environment announced that the Fit for 55 packages are impossible for Poland and allowed us to burn coal of the worst quality, hoping Poles will behave responsibly. The Ministry of State Assets is considering reducing VAT on coal to zero and building mines abroad, such as in Africa.

So Poland is betting on coal again. But is it enough? Do Poles feel safe thanks to this when quite recently, President Andrzej Duda himself assured us that we had had coal in Poland for 200 years? Meanwhile, electricity prices on the Polish Power Exchange are breaking records due to the lack of coal in Poland and the renovation of power units. On July 4, our power system had no power reserve and was on the brink of a crisis.

(bizblog)