Her government Netherlands is to allocate at least 150 million euros to prevent some consumers from being unable to pay their increased electricity billsThis was announced today by the Dutch network RTL, citing government sources.

The government will set up a fund to pay the bills of citizens who this year were forced to change their contracts to a more expensive one and who can prove they are unable to pay their bills.

The fund will be funded in part by energy providers as it will protect them from bankruptcy if their customers don’t pay their bills, according to RTL.

Plan details are expected to be announced on Friday.

Opposition parties have repeatedly criticized Prime Minister Mark Rutte for not supporting enough citizens trying to pay their electricity bills.

Dutch media reported last week that the government was about to announce that it would allocate some 16 billion euros in 2023 to help consumers cope with skyrocketing food and energy prices. But Rutte declined to elaborate on the plan, which will be made public on September 20 along with the state budget.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}