EVN Bulgaria Electricity and EVN Bulgaria Electricity, managing the power supply in southeastern Bulgaria, asked the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) for an extension in the adoption of new terms last week. Representatives of both companies said the development of the framework governing relations with their customers began more than a year ago and during that time a series of regulatory changes came into force that have not been reflected in the draft terms and that fail to correspond to new developments in the law on energy, the electricity trading rules and the standards for measuring the amount of electricity as well as the opinions and decisions of the Commission, relating to the functioning of the electricity market.
Among the texts that EVN considers necessary to be discussed are the regulator’s proposal to eliminate the fee for the service to restore power supply to a subscriber at the same time maintaining the pay for an express service for reconnection to the power grid. According to the Austrians this situation not only fails to comply with the principles of legality, but is also contrary to economic logic, due to the vague grounds of SEWRC, which makes this distinction possible.
Another text that EVN insists to be refined is the proposal to change the requirement for sending two prior notifications to customers of an impending shutdown for those who fail to comply with the provisions of the General Conditions. According to them, the proposed text causes the allocation of disproportionate resources aimed at a small group of disloyal customers at the expense of all other loyal customers.
Both companies dispute the lack of sanctions in the draft regulations against customers who reconnected their power supply on their own when it was discontinued due to terms of use violation. Refinement is needed also for the texts governing the establishment and delivery of protocols, as already there will be no option for delivering a protocol to a representative of the holder (employee, tenant, occupant or household member), who agrees to accept it. „It would seriously hamper the licensing activity of the company regarding inspection, replacement and metrological control of the meters,“ the EVN said.
A closed session, which will considered the new terms, will be held on August 11 as announced by the regulator. President of the regulator Boyan Boev said that a regulatory audit began in the National Electricity Company. He added that it is too early to predict the increase in electricity prices as of 1 October and categorically denied the possibility of shock price rise of electricity, as predicted by trade unions.
The BANKER
