During a closed meeting that took place on 7.04.2017 the Energy and water regulatory commission (EWRC) adopted a final decision regarding the price for electrical energy, heating energy and electrical energy produced by thermal power pants using combined heat and power cycles.
According to the decision of the Commission the average increase of the electricity price for the households is 0.95%. The fee “obligations to society” changes from 35.77 BGN/MWh to 37.02 BGN/MWh, which leads to an increase of around 1% for the consumers on the open market. The price change is required due to the higher energy prices from CHPs generators which use natural gas.
The price increase for heating energy generated by thermal power plants varies for the different plants. The increase is between 17.91% and 25.61%. An exception is thermal plant Pleven where due to corrections of falsely submitted date the increase amounts to 37.40%.
The reason behind the price changes is the new price for natural gas supplied by the public provider “Bulgargaz” EAD adopted by a decision of the Regulator on 1st of April 2017. The gas price was increased with 29.64% due to the higher petroleum and petroleum derivatives prices on the international markets during the last 9 month. These factors are part of the contract between “Bulgargaz” EAD and “Gazprom export” and directly influence the price of the natural gas supplied in Bulgaria.
In compliance with the regulatory framework the price changes of electrical and heating energy will come into force after their publication in a State Gazette.
Decision on the new prices for electrical energy (only in Bulgarian)
Decision on the new prices for heating energy (only in Bulgarian)
EWRC perceives opportunities for decrease in the energy prices in the autumn. If they are going to decrease and with how much during the next heating season will depend on the prices of petroleum derivatives on the international markets which directly influence the end prices in Bulgaria. Moreover, a significant influence on the prices is possible, if a renegotiation of the supply contract between Gazprom export and Bulgargaz takes place.