Electricity Price Hike: A New Challenge for Bulgarian Households in 2024
Starting January 1, 2024, Bulgarian households will face an average 8.42% increase in electricity prices, as decided by the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR).
Dr. Ivan Hиновски, Chairman of the Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum, explained in an interview with "The Day Live" that KEVR had no other option but to raise electricity prices due to a political decision, or more precisely, a change in the 2023 law.
Dr. Hиновски dismissed the proposal by DPS – New Beginning to impose a moratorium on electricity prices until the elections for a new KEVR. "A moratorium is a non-market model. Someone will have to pay NЕК: either us, or the budget, it’s the same," he stated.
The expert stressed the need for a modern market reform in the sector, a topic that has been under discussion for over 20 years. "We should apply liberalization with an equitable burden on all consumers: poor people should get a social electricity tariff. A moratorium would burden the state budget," he added.
Dr. Hиновски attributed the increase in electricity prices mainly to external influences. "Massive amounts of electricity are being bought by Ukraine from all exchanges around us, including BEH, as it doesn’t have its own production. This increases demand, and consequently, exchange prices rise," he explained, citing the example of "exceptionally high electricity demand from Romanian traders" who later sell to Ukraine.
The expert’s forecast is that electricity prices could start to decrease by March or April.