Electricity

5% electricity price increase approved for businesses, down from 15% sought by EPBiH, ERS

Photo: Pixabay

Published

February 13, 2019

Comments

0

Share

Published:

February 13, 2019

Comments:

0

Share

State-owned power utilities Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine (EPBiH) and Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS) did not receive the authorities’ nod to raise the electricity price for businesses as much as they had requested. Both companies asked for a 15% hike and were only allowed a 5% increase.

The decision to lower the requested price increase followed protests from the chambers of commerce, unions of employers, and trade unions, as well as negotiations between representatives of the governments with the management of the companies.

The Prime Minister of Republika Srpska said that it was agreed with the ERS management that the electricity price increase for industry would be 4.9%. He said that it was a minimal price increase.

This means that ERS will continue to significantly subsidize companies in Republika Srpska through the price of electricity, he said, Srna reported.

Only several weeks earlier, while announcing a 14% increase of electricity prices, ERS General Manager Luka Petrović said that if this request is approved, the new price would still be the lowest in the Balkans, lower by 15% to 50% compared to other countries in the region.

He said that with the 14% price increase, annual subsidies to companies through a lower price would be reduced from BAM 72 million (EUR 36.7 million) to BAM 57.5 million (EUR 29.3 million).

EPBiH also did not get approval for the requested price increase. When the company asked for higher prices, EPBiH General Manager Bajazit Jašarević said that it is more important to secure power supplies for BiH in the future than to discuss the percentage of an electricity price increase.

He said that the electricity price on the regional market had risen more than 20%.

In the end, EPBiH revised the Business Plan for the period 2019-2021. In a statement after the plan was revised, EPBiH said that it will implement a model for easing the planned price hike, which implies a price correction to a level that is significantly below market prices, but also slightly higher than the current prices.

Jašarevic said that the increase should be about 5%.

EPBiH and ERS are two major power suppliers in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

Forecasts of price hikes in the region are slowly becoming reality. Due to the enormous increase in prices in Bulgaria, the government there had to resort to certain measures.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

France-EDF-sells-Europe-first-green-bonds-nuclear-energy

France’s EDF sells Europe’s first green bonds for nuclear energy

01 December 2023 - French state-owned power utility EDF raised EUR 1 billion for nuclear energy through a green bond issue, the first of its kind in Europe

Greece launch first guarantees origin auction early January

Greece to launch first guarantees of origin auction in early January

30 November 2023 - The first guarantees of origin of electricity in Greece are reportedly planned to be auctioned in the first half of January

HEP-EL-TO-zagreb-new-unit-cogeneration

Croatia’s HEP starts up new unit at cogeneration plant in Zagreb

30 November 2023 - The new unit is HEP's largest investment in new generation facilities in the last ten years, and it will replace outdated units

montenegro-solar-wind-eu-green-steel

Montenegro on track to add 4 GW of solar and wind, seeks EU support for green steel roll-out

29 November 2023 - Montenegro's strategic goals include renewable energy, smart electricity metering, but also green steel production