Government proposal on financial support for electricity for households submitted to Parliament

The aim of the proposal is to support low-income households that have difficulties in paying their electricity bills. Financial support for electricity would be available to households that can-not, due to their low income, fully make use of the tax credit for household expenses to deduct their electricity bills.

Being paid the support would require a monthly electricity bill that exceeds a threshold of EUR 400. Households would be paid financial support for costs of electricity consumed at their perma-nent residence. The amount paid for electricity transmission would not be taken into account.

People applying for support could receive 60 per cent of the amount of their monthly electricity bill that exceeds EUR 400. A maximum amount of EUR 1,500 per monthly electricity bill would be taken into account. This being the case, the maximum amount of financial support would be EUR 660 per month. Financial support would be paid for four months, so the maximum amount of support for the entire period would be EUR 2,640.

Support would only be paid for electricity consumption at the permanent residence of the house-hold itself. This being the case, children would not be paid support for electricity consumption at their parents’ permanent residence, for example. In situations in which a household has more than one permanent residence at the same time, support would only be paid for one point of use. 

The support would be granted based on an application to the Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela, and it would be paid on the basis of electricity used between 1 January and 30 April 2023. The support would be tax-free for its recipients.

Inquiries:

Mikko Horko, Ministerial Adviser, [email protected]