site.btaEnergy Regulator Envisages 1.38 Per Cent Average Price Hike for Household Electricity, Effective July 1

115 ECONOMY - ENERGY - PRICES

Energy Regulator Envisages
1.38 Per Cent Average Price Hike
for Household Electricity, Effective July 1


Sofia, June 7 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) envisages the price of electricity to rise by an average 1.38 per cent, effective July 1, 2017, EWRC Chairman Ivan Ivanov said here on Tuesday.

"The EWRC today hosted a public discussion on energy prices with representatives of all companies in the sector. As expected, they were quite unhappy with the EWRC report setting the average increase of the household electricity price at 1.38 per cent. There were proposals for hikes of 6, 8 per cent and even more," Ivanov said.

As from July 1, the price of heat will remain practically unchanged, with an adjustment limited to plus/minus 0.5-0.7 per cent, the EWRC Chairman told journalists. The price will be increased only for district heating companies that use coal, but the price of their output was not increased before. The price of heat is usually set for a period of one year. More frequent changes can be introduced only in case of sharp fluctuations in the price of energy resources. "At this point I don't think that natural gas will be appreciating, on the contrary, it has edged down," he added.

After a public discussion on June 30, the EWRC will meet behind closed doors to adopt a final decision on the price of electricity, natural gas and heat, Ivanov said. PK/LG
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