site.btaJanuary Electricity Hike for Households Attributed to Growing Consumption

The price of electricity for household consumers is expected to rise by 9% as of January 1 due to growing consumption, which requires the National Electricity Company to provide additional supplies, and also due to an increase in the price at which distributors of electricity buy it on the market, Plamen Mladenovski of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) said on Wednesday. The matter was discussed at an open-door EWRC meeting and a subsequent public discussion.

As the price of electricity was kept lower earlier in the year, consumption increased. Many households switched from natural gas, pellet fuel and firewood to electricity for their heating needs, Mladenovski said.

According to EWRC Chair Ivan Ivanov, Bulgarian consumers are using the cheapest electricity in the EU. The contemplated 9% hike as of January 1 is due to external factors, not a wrong forecast, he argued. The forecast was based on futures markets information for the period from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, but then changes occurred both in and outside Bulgaria, causing the increase.

One of the factors was a drastic deterioration of the energy situation in Ukraine and a growing demand for electricity in the war-torn country, which, compounded by poor energy connectivity between Western and Eastern Europe, caused a power hike in such Eastern European countries as Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Hungary. This led to an upward revision of the projected price in Bulgaria from BGN 173 per MWh to BGN 220, Ivanov said. He noted that legislative amendments made in 2023 require the regulator to update its forecasts for the market price of electricity once every six months.

After the January 1 hike, the electricity price will not rise again at least until July 1, Ivanov said. Heating prices across Bulgaria will remain unchanged after January 1, he added.