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Roundup: Bulgarian energy regulator insists on new electricity pricing model

Xinhua, June 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bulgaria's Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) chief here on Tuesday insisted on the implementation of the new electricity pricing model, despite pressure on the commission from industry associations.

"I can assure you that the regulator, regardless of certain pressure that is exerted on it, remains on its position and defends the chosen model," said Ivan Ivanov, chairman of EWRC, at a national forum on the liberalization of the energy market.

The new electricity pricing model proposed by EWRC at the end of May, will see increase of the electricity price from July 1, and affect industrial consumers more than households.

EWRC is to decide on Friday whether the new prices would come into force from July 1, or a month later, Ivanov said.

Meanwhile, the watchdog is ready to consider any new factor which would allow the reduction of prices, Ivanov added.

On Sunday, a number of Bulgarian industrial associations signed a joint statement firmly opposing the planned rise in electricity prices "from 13 percent to 20 percent for the majority of businesses in Bulgaria."

The statement said the price hike would push the country to major macroeconomic problems such as a significant decline in economic activity, and a sharp increase in unemployment even in the short term.

However, in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday on the sidelines of the energy forum, Ivanov said: "There is nobody for whom the price will jump by 20 percent from July 1."

For energy intensive industries such as metallurgy, chemical, glass, ceramic and cement industries, the price would jump by no more than 2 to 4 percent, Ivanov told Xinhua.

As for other businesses, the price would rise about 10 percent, and for households, the price would rise by 2 percent, he added.

According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), Bulgaria households pay the lowest electricity prices in the EU, 0.090 euro (some 0.10 U.S. dollars) per kilowatt-hour (kWh), with the average price in the EU at 0.208 euro per kWh.

As for industrial consumers, the electricity price in Bulgaria is 0.0832 euro per kWh while the average EU price is 0.120 euro (0.134 dollars) per kWh, Eurostat said. Endit