How households and small firms will enter free electricity market as of July 1?

In the draft presented on February 25, about 3,000 households will be the first to leave the regulated market, with grid capacity of 50 kilowatts. These are multi-storey single-family houses, large villas or it is about the wealthier Bulgarians. The remaining households, whose average capacity is around 12 kilowatts, remain on the regulated market. Around 55,000 small businesses with a capacity of 30 kilowatts are also expected to enter the free market.

Will the energy poor be protected from surges in electricity prices? The parliamentary energy committee tried to answer these questions at a roundtable in the National Assembly. It discussed amendments to the Energy Act related to the liberalisation of the energy market.

End of the monopoly of CEZ, EVN and Energopro.

As of July 1, household customers will be able to choose electricity supplier. However, initially the richest households will enter the free market.

Valentin Nikolov, Chairman of the Energy Committee of the National Assembly: "Currently, vulnerable consumers and the energy poor have not yet been identified and no mechanism for their protection has been developed, which is why we have come up with a plan that is more sparing and factually puts on the liberalized market those we know for sure are not vulnerable."

The Energy Minister assured that the transition towards full liberalization of electricity prices would not be done in a hurry.

Temenuzhka Petkova, Minister of Energy: "The high level of energy poverty in the country requires this process to be smooth, to be longer, and its duration will last between 3 and 5 years. But as a final deadline for complete liberalization, we have indicated 2025.

The head of the country’s energy watchdog, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), warned that a customer who had once entered the free market would not be able to return to the regulated one. And to make it easier for customers, the regulator will come up with a platform with comparative prices of the various traders.

Ivan Ivanov, Chairman of EWRC: "This gives the opportunity for new free-market customers to make informed choices. And it will be a clear indication to the electricity providers themselves of where they are in terms of the condtions they offer compared to other providers."

The three electricity distribution companies in the country voiced their concerns.

Kalina Trifonova, EVN: "In order for this liberalization process to be successful, besides purely procedural, of course, there should be products that are standardized, with sufficient energy to be available."

Zornitsa Genova, CEZ: "Now is the time to call on traders to have active and awareness campaigns, so that, by June 1, distribution companies are not flooded with applications that will not be able to process.

Plamen Stefanov, EnergoPro: The most important issue is the need to adopt a transitional provision in a timely manner, which will set out clear conditions under which customers who will not be active by July 1, will be supplied."

Joining the free market does not mean a full divorce with CEZ, EVN and Energopro, as electricity will continue to be supplied through their networks in the future, for which households will pay additional network charges.

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