New Higher Prices for Electricity, District Heating, and Hot Water Take Effect from 1 July

As of July 1, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) has approved new, higher prices for electricity, district heating, and hot water. Household electricity rates will rise by an average of 2.6%, while the price of district heating and hot water will increase by 4.54%. The approved electricity price hikes are lower than initially proposed.

The Commission managed to halve the initially proposed electricity price increase, largely due to cost savings related to electricity transmission. The sharpest rise will be seen in Southern Bulgaria, where the price of electricity will go up by 3.6%, followed by Northeastern Bulgaria at 2.5%, and Western Bulgaria at 1.8%. This is part of a gradual transition to a liberalised energy market. Day and night tariffs remain unchanged.

For district heating, the average increase is 4.5%. The steepest hikes are in Sofia—nearly 6%—as well as in Plovdiv, Razgrad, and Sliven. The highest prices for heating will be in Razgrad, Sofia, and Veliko Tarnovo. The variation is due to the specific cost structures of each regional heating utility.

Plamen Mladenovski - Chairman of the EWRC: "The Commission aims to ensure a smooth transition to a liberalized market without disruptions for household consumers. They can be assured that there will be no immediate changes in their energy bills. As for district heating, the increase is only 4.5%. Even with these adjusted rates, heating prices remain 5% lower than what residential consumers paid in 2022 and 2023."

Tasko Ermenkov - member of the EWRC: "Objectively speaking, we have done everything possible to distribute the burden of this transition evenly among consumers, suppliers, and producers."

Blagoy Golubarev, EWRC Member: "EWRC's role here is increasingly about finding a true balance between all market participants."