Since yesterday, public debate has been underway over what President of the Republic of Poland Karol Nawrocki will decide regarding the so-called wind farm bill connected with the freezing of energy prices. “We need to seriously consider how to solve this problem. The President has not yet made any decision” – presidential spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz assured this morning.
Let us recall – in the wind farm bill that Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government sent to the president for signature, there was a wrzutka (insert) containing provisions freezing energy prices in Poland. Now, with the help of friendly media, the ruling party is trying to pressure the president to sign the whole bill. However, not necessarily the entire bill is beneficial for Poles.
“All actions of President Karol Nawrocki will aim to lower electricity prices, in line with the promise made during the election campaign. It was the government that limited the Energy Shield (TE) until the end of September and deliberately included it in the ‘wind farm bill'” – Rafał Leśkiewicz, Nawrocki’s spokesman, wrote yesterday on x.com.
He reminded that the previous draft of the wind farm bill fell through due to lobbying wrzutki (inserts) in January 2024. Given those circumstances, the matter requires additional, thorough analysis. “The President has not yet made any decision on the ‘wind farm bill'” – the spokesman stressed.
“There are a lot of these bills”
This morning on TOK FM, the president’s spokesman clarified the information given yesterday.
“The President currently has 38 bills on his desk to sign, so there are indeed a lot of them. That’s how many have been sent to the Presidential Chancellery, and one of them is the wind farm bill. But we also clearly say that this bill is, to put it mildly, a slight foul on the part of the ruling party, because on one hand we talk about lowering energy prices. President Karol Nawrocki also clearly emphasized this during the election campaign – he wants to lower energy prices” – he pointed out.
And he added: “First there will be a freeze, and then a 33% reduction planned by the President. It is an excellent idea to freeze energy prices and then lower them”.
However, he noted that the bone of contention may be wind turbines – more precisely, the distance between them and residential buildings.
“Wind turbines face strong social opposition. We are talking here about reducing the distance from 700 to 500 meters. Mr. Editor, would you want such a giant turbine in the immediate vicinity of your home, where on one side we have… Well, that’s only half a kilometer, considering how large these turbines are. It affects quality of life and also impacts the environment” – he explained.
He admitted that “we need to seriously consider how to solve this problem. The President has not yet made any decision”.