site.btaCheaper Natural Gas Will Bring Down Price of High-efficiency Electricity

Cheaper Natural Gas Will Bring Down Price of  High-efficiency Electricity

Sofia, May 11 (BTA) - Ivan Ivanov, Chairman of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), told journalists that cheaper natural gas will bring down the price of electricity from high-efficiency co-generation by heating utilities and in-house factory power plants.

On Tuesday Bulgargaz submitted a forecast for a nearly 10 per cent fall in the price of natural gas in the third quarter.

This is good news for domestic and business users, as well as for the industries which use natural gas as a raw material, such as the chemical industry, said Ivanov.

On June 30, the EWRC will announce its pricing decision for the next 12-month regulatory period, taking into account all other factors. Natural gas is one of the factors pushing gas prices down, but other factors work in the opposite direction, such as the National Electric Company's loan for repayment of the obligations to the two US-owned power plants, AES Maritza East 1 and ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3.

Asked if a request for a 20 per cent rise in the electricity price in Western Bulgaria will be granted, Ivanov said that the price would increase by much less, if at all.

The price of heat energy in Sofia fell by over 20 per cent as natural gas depreciated by about 50 per cent in a year.