Bulgaria regulator approves 1.77% hike in electricity prices for household consumers
Bulgaria’s Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) has approved an increase in electricity prices by an average of 1.77 per cent for household consumers.
The new price will apply for the next 12-month regulatory period that starts on July 1 and runs until June 30 2024, EWRC said in a statement.
This increase only applies to the regulated segment of the market, which currently only applies to household consumers. Bulgaria has repeatedly postponed the full liberalisation of the electricity market in recent years, with Parliament recently once again pushing the deadline to July 1 2025.
EWRC’s ruling will result in consumers in western Bulgaria, including capital city Sofia, serviced by Elektrohold, paying 3.1 per cent more. Household consumers serviced by EVN in southern Bulgaria would pay 1.85 per cent more and customers of Energo-Pro in northern Bulgaria would see their bills go down by 0.49 per cent.
The regulator described the price increase as “minimal”, noting that it was the lowest annual increase ordered by EWRC in the past decade and well below the inflation for the past year or the projected inflation for the next 12-month regulatory period.
EWRC also said that electricity prices for household consumers in Bulgaria “remain one of the lowest in Europe.”
In a separate decision, the regulator said that it approved a reduction in central heating prices by an average of 8.47 per cent for the next 12 months. Customers in capital city Sofia would pay 7.02 per cent less, in Plovdiv 7.81 per cent less, in Varna 3.74 per cent less and in Bourgas 14.11 per cent less.
(Photo: Petr Kovar/freeimages.com)
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