Only just under 500 companies have benefited at this stage from the one-stop system allowing them to receive public aid in the face of soaring energy bills, the Ministry of SMEs said on Monday.
“Since the opening of the counter last July, around 65 million euros have been paid via the counter,” said the cabinet of the Minister Delegate for SMEs Olivia Grégoire, while 12 billion euros are budgeted in 2023 for all energy support devices.
The aid at the counter went to “a little less than 500 companies, in a context where many contracts were renewed on January 1” and for which the disbursement has therefore not yet taken place, it was also justified source to explain why they were so little used last year. To benefit from the “window”, a company must have an energy bill that has increased by at least 50% in one year over a period of two months and this bill must represent at least 3% of its turnover. .
Help that can be combined with the “electricity shock absorber”
From 1 January, the “window” can be combined with the “electricity shock absorber” which covers 15% to 20% of the electricity bill for SMEs (between 10 and 249 employees) to whom electricity is invoiced between 180 and 500 euros per megawatt hour.
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“The main difficulty is that too few companies are aware of the existing aid systems”, acknowledged Olivia Grégoire during a telephone press briefing, adding that the government’s objective was to “inform SME height of the existing devices”. “All of the CMAs (Chambers of Trades and Crafts) have set up phoning campaigns (telephone calls) for 8 to 10 days and are calling the VSEs in their department,” he said. -she adds.