Mugliett endorses PL power plan

Nationalist MP and former minister Jesmond Mugliett this morning endorsed Labour's energy plan. Speaking on One Breakfast this morning, Mr Mugliett said one of the positive aspects of the Labour proposals was that it was based on a private-public partnership. It was also good that Labour was proposing a mix of energy sources. He had still to see a contract on the purchase of electricity through the interconnector. Mr Mugliett said the long-term power purchase agreement being proposed by Labour would also lead to price stability. Asked whether the plan was doable, he said he could not understand who so many doubts had been cast, notably on the public-private partnership. Indeed, even the Gozo tunnel would probably need to be a public-private partnership if it was feasible. Having a private partner meant lower prices, greater efficiency and a stronger input for a project to succeed. He said the commitment to reducing the tariffs by a quarter by reducing the unit cost of electricity to 9c6 was attainable, given that just with the interconnector, the unit price would drop to 11c. Current costs were between 18c and 20c he observed. For Malta's economic competitiveness, the power...