site.btaEnergy Minister Meets Regulators and Distributors to Address Winter Power Outages

Issues with the country's electricity supply caused by severe winter conditions were discussed during a meeting convened by caretaker Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov, the Energy Ministry's press service said here on Friday.

The meeting included representatives from the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, the Electricity System Operator, and the three electricity distribution companies: Electricity Distribution Networks West, Electricity Distribution North, and Electricity Distribution South.

Malinov insisted that repairs be finished, and power restored by the end of the day. "If this doesn't happen, customers should receive compensation as specified in the general terms of the contracts for access to the respective electricity distribution network," he said.

Prolonged snowfall, which led to trees falling both inside and outside easement zones, was identified as the primary cause of the outages, according to participants in the meeting. They concurred on the necessity to amend the regulations that currently mandate easements to be recorded in cadastral maps and the property register. This complicates the maintenance of easement zones and increases the risk of outages due to weather conditions.

"Removing this requirement will greatly improve operational efficiency in the work," Malinov said.