site.btaEconomic and Social Council Proposes Government to Reassess Plans for Liberalisation of Household Electricity Market

The Economic and Social Council (ESC) is concerned about the continuing imbalance in the European electricity market and persistent excessively high prices in South-Eastern Europe, the ESC said in a press release on Tuesday. 

The ESC proposes that the Bulgarian government introduce a permanent mechanism to compensate for excessively high prices and reassess plans to liberalize the electricity market for households, the position statement reads.

In 2023, the average share of households unable to maintain a normal home temperature in Europe was 10.6%, while in Bulgaria this share was 20.7%. In Bulgaria, households have significantly lower final energy consumption per person. However, the share of housing, energy and fuel costs out of disposable income remains high at around 15%, while in the EU it is below 10%, according to 2022 data. These are the root causes why Bulgaria cannot fully implement the electricity market reforms by bringing households to a free market, with price imbalances in wholesale markets further hindering this process, the ESC reports.

The ESC stresses that it is particularly important to take into account the overall structure of GDP in Bulgaria and points to the need to support non-household electricity consumers to overcome the consequences of volatile energy markets.