site.btaCC-DB Submits Bill Aimed at Reducing Energy Poverty

The parliamentary group of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) submitted a bill in Parliament on Thursday, mandating the Council of Ministers to implement the energy poverty program by the end of June, to designate the competent authority that will implement it and to create an information system, which clarifies the number of energy poor Bulgarian households.

The bill was drafted by Deputy chair of the Energy Committee in the National Assembly Radoslav Ribarski and was supported by the CC-DB parliamentary group. "This topic is also extremely important now, when households receive their electricity bills with a 9% increase, which, however, are felt as much more due to the low December and January temperatures," Ribarski pointed out. 

The latest Eurostat data shows that one in five Bulgarians finds it difficult to keep their home warm. Housing costs, including electricity, are higher than the European average and reach up to 18%. Energy poverty is a serious socio-economic problem that affects people who cannot afford adequate heating, lighting or other basic energy needs.