Agios Vasileios: report seeks undergrounding of network

A request for the gradual undergrounding of the electricity network in areas of the Municipality of Agios Vasileios was forwarded to Parliament by PASOK-Movement for Change Rethymno MP Manolis Hnaris, in a report he filed on Thursday, August 20. As stated in the text, the aim is to strengthen the network’s safety, reliability and resilience in the area, through a gradual shift from overhead to underground lines. This parliamentary move did not come out of nowhere: it followed a visit by the MP, on Wednesday, August 19, to fire-hit villages in the Municipality of Agios Vasileios, where the fire’s impact was recorded on the ground. The request, then, is framed as a follow-up to that visit and links protection of the network to the area’s broader resilience against extreme events.

The report is a specific parliamentary tool, not a mere statement. Under Article 125 of Parliament’s Standing Orders, citizens, individually or collectively, as well as bodies, may address written reports to Parliament, which are filed through an MP who adopts and forwards them. The report is sent to the competent minister, who must reply in writing within the prescribed deadline, and both the report and the reply are entered in the Minutes. In practice, this means that filing it does not oblige anyone to carry out the request and is not equivalent to funding or launching a project; it does, however, create an obligation for an official, written position from the ministry, which then becomes a public document and can be used as a basis for further steps. This is precisely how a report differs from a parliamentary question: a report conveys a request from citizens or bodies to the administration as-is, while a question is formulated by the MP themselves and seeks information or a position on a specific matter.

The Municipality of Agios Vasileios extends across the southern part of Rethymno prefecture, with its seat in Spili, and combines mountain settlements on the slopes of Kedros and Kryoneritis with coastal settlements on the Libyan Sea. This topography relates directly to the issue raised in the report: powering scattered villages over long distances is done via an extensive overhead medium- and low-voltage network that crosses forest and grassland areas. Such a network is exposed to strong winds, falling trees and wildfires, while repairing faults in hard-to-reach spots takes time. Discussion about the area remains open after this summer’s wildfires, with the municipality having already announced aid of up to €6,000 for fire victims, while the judicial investigation into the fire continues with the testimony of a 35-year-old in Sellia.

Much, however, remains unknown and needs to be explicitly stated. It has not been announced which specific settlements in the municipality the request covers, nor whether it is limited to the sections of the network hit by the fire or concerns a broader intervention. No estimated cost for the undergrounding has been disclosed, no timetable has been set, and it is not known whether a study or funding source exists. There is also, so far, no reply from the competent ministry, as the response deadline runs from the date of filing. The next step is institutionally prescribed and verifiable: the written reply will show whether the matter is being examined, whether it is referred to the network operator, or whether it is rejected as technically or financially unfeasible at this stage. It will also show whether the issue is treated as an isolated local request or is incorporated into a broader plan for network resilience in Crete’s fire-hit areas.