site.btaEnergy Regulator Sees no Chance for Electricity Price Cut even If Contracts with US-owned Power Plants Are Renegotiated

Energy Regulator Sees no Chance for Electricity Price Cut even If Contracts with US-owned
Power Plants Are Renegotiated


Sofia, January 28 (BTA) - The head of the energy regulator,
Svetla Todorova, commented here Wednesday that even if ongoing
talks for lowering the price at which electricity is purchased
from the two US-owned power plants are successful, the end price
of electricity is unlikely to be reduced.

The price of electricity from the two plants Todorova referred
to, is part of the electricity mix used for calculating the end
price of electricity.

Removing the in-house power plants from the energy mix is one
way to reduce the price of electricity for household users but
the question is whether this will be done for all such plants,
including the heat plants which co-generate electricity, said
Todorova.

She sees no way of using the price of electricity to offset the
deficit incurred by the National Electricity Company and said
that by July at the latest it should be clear how the built-up
of new deficit will be stopped.

It transpired from Todorova's remarks that a procedure is
underway for lowering the price of electricity from wood waste
because the regulator has found this resource to be much cheaper
than the regulator-approved price.

The share of electricity from bio-mass is relatively small "but
large-scale connection of bio-mass projects should be avoided so
as not to see a recurrence of the situation with
photovoltaics", she said.

The energy regulator have given themselves until January 30 to
consider the documents submitted by the country's three energy
distribution companies in respect to the metering of electricity
during the past holiday season, including a situation in which
Energo-PRO have issued two bills with the same maturity to their
users, Todorova said.

The Energy Ministry said that it has sent out its teams to Varna
and Shoumen in the Northeast of the country and they have
checked 91 buildings with clients of Energo-PRO. They looked at
the electric switchboards, their seals and the meters. More
checks will follow.