site.btaParliamentary Committee on Energy Postpones Partial Liberalization of Household Electricity Market by 1 Year

The Parliamentary Committee on Energy adopted on Wednesday three bills to amend the Energy Act, postponing the partial liberalization of the household electricity market by one year, from July 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025. The changes were submitted by the parliamentary groups of BSP for Bulgaria, GERB-UDF and There Is Such a People.

According to the current legal provisions in the Energy Act, the reform of the electricity market for household consumers was supposed to start partially from July 1 of this year. After that date the National Electric Company (NEK) would no longer serve as a public supplier. In addition, the base price for households, currently defined by the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), was to be determined by the Council of Ministers.

EWRC Chair Ivan Ivanov commented that there is currently no readiness to introduce liberalization of the electricity market for domestic consumers.

The Parliamentary Committee on Energy adopted all three bills proposing changes to the Energy Act, postponing the liberalization of the electricity market.

Since all three bills wee identical, a common report will be prepared and they will be combined between the first and second reading, Delyan Dobrev specified. He indicated that National Assembly agenda on Friday includes only the bill tabled by BSP for Bulgaria, but the other two bills will be added to it.