Greece's power sector faces soaring electricity prices and scant underground network

Greece’s electricity market remains among the most expensive in the European Union. The latest wholesale price was €155 per megawatt‑hour, while the average retail cost for households reached 30.06 cents per kilowatt‑hour in July, placing Greece 14th in retail and 15th in wholesale pricing out of the 27 EU members. These figures sit well above the EU average retail price of 28.44 cents per kilowatt‑hour, despite government assurances and occasional subsidies.

The national distribution network operated by the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Company (ΔΕΔΔΗΕ) stretches roughly 250,000 km, yet only about 5,300 km (around 2 %) is underground. This limited undergrounding is identified as a major factor in wildfire ignition, with six of the ten largest fires in recent years traced to the grid. The government’s “Greece 2.0” programme allocates €350‑€377 million through 2026 for undergrounding and network reinforcement, a sum critics argue is insufficient given the scale of the problem.