Bulgaria’s electricity regulator plans industrial price cut
Bulgaria’s State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) said on May 21 that it was preparing a new price calculation formula that would keep prices for household consumers unchanged and reduce prices for industrial consumers.
The exact details of the new price formula would be presented at a later date, SEWRC chairperson Evgenia Haritonova said. Concerning the timing of introducing the new formula, she said that this depended on whether the new Parliament could move swiftly and pass amendments to the Electricity Act before July 1, the next closest date when the regulator can change prices.
The regulator reduced prices for household consumers by between 6.2 per cent and 7.3 per cent in March, following nationwide protests that brought down the government of prime minister Boiko Borissov and snap parliamentary elections.
SEWRC could afford a price cut at that point because of the large cut in gas prices agreed with Russia’s Gazprom, but companies in the energy sector have lodged a number of proposals asking for higher regulated prices that, if passed, would result in a price hike for end-users ranging between 15 per cent and 20 per cent.
Asked about the proposal put forth by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which suggested introducing lower electricity prices up to a certain consumption threshold (after reaching this amount, higher prices would be charged), Haritonova said that the model had been in use prior to 2005 and was greatly abused.
(Photo: greenhitma/sxc.hu)
