site.btaEnergy Regulator Finalizes Heat, Electricity Price Hikes

Energy Regulator Finalizes Heat, Electricity Price Hikes

Sofia, April 8 (BTA) - Meeting behind closed doors on Friday, Bulgaria's Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) adopted conclusive decisions on the prices of electricity, heat and cogenerated electricity, effective April 7, 2017, and published them on its website.

The weighted average appreciation of household electricity amounts to 0.95 per cent. The public obligation component of the price for business customers buying electricity on the free market is changed from 35.77 leva/MWh to 37.02 leva/MWh, resulting in a price rise of some 1 per cent. The component change reflects the higher price which heating utilities running on natural gas will be paid for the electricity they produce by high efficiency co-generation of power and heat.

The increased price of heat produced by heating utilities running on natural gas varies by producer from 17.91 to 25.61 per cent (Sofia 22.75 per cent, Plovdiv 21.83 per cent, Bourgas 25.61 per cent, Varna 22.70 per cent, Vratsa 24.42 per cent, Veliko Turnovo 17.91 per cent, Razgrad 23.35 per cent). The only exception is the Pleven District Heating Company, whose heat power will appreciate by 37.40 per cent due to adjustments of erroneous data submitted by the company for a previous period.

The price hikes are due to a 29.64 per cent rise in the price of natural gas provided by Bulgargaz EAD, effective April 1, 2017. The appreciation is attributed to the increased price of alternative fuels on the international markets over the last nine months and the stronger US dollar, on the basis of which Gazprom Export sets the price at which it delivers natural gas to Bulgargaz.

The EWRC decisions take effect as from their adoption.

While the Commission was holding its meeting, some 50 protestors picketed its building and blocked tram traffic in the street for a couple of hours. They demanded that the natural gas hike be revoked and that the prices of heat and electricity be left unchanged. The protestors argued that the EWRC protects what they call "the energy mafia" rather than the interests of the people and called on President Rumen Radev to intervene.