site.btaPublic Obligation Surcharge to Electricity Price Reduced for Non-Household Users

Public Obligation Surcharge to Electricity Price Reduced for Non-Household Users

Sofia, November 2 (BTA) - The public obligation surcharge to the electricity price for non-household users was reduced by 2.8 per cent to 36.83 leva per megawatt-hour as of November 2, following a 14.26 per cent fall of the price of natural gas in the last quarter of the year. A decision to this effect was made by the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) at a closed-door meeting on Sunday, EWRC Chairman Ivan Ivanov told a news conference.

The reduction applies to the purchase of electricity by businesses on the free market. As for the regulated market, the approved average reduction is 2.5 per cent.

The regulator decided to keep the electricity price for household users unchanged in order to make sure that if the price of natural gas goes up, households will be spared the risk of an electricity hike, Ivanov said.

The purpose of the public obligation surcharge is to compensate the National Electricity Company for the costs arising from public obligations to purchase electricity from renewable sources and high-efficiency cogeneration of heat and power at feed-in tariffs. The significant reduction of the natural gas price in the last quarter of the year has a direct bearing on the price of electricity produced by gas-powered plants operating on the high-efficiency cogeneration principle.

EWRC can change the price of electricity every three months. The previous change was made on August 1, Ivanov recalled.