Electricity

Montenegro’s CGES to return EUR 35 million to electricity consumers due to excess revenue

CGES electricity prices revenue

Photo: fotoblend from Pixabay

Published

November 4, 2024

Country

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

November 4, 2024

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

Montenegro’s transmission system operator, CGES, is to return a total of EUR 34.7 million to electricity consumers due to excess revenue from the lease of cross-border capacities in recent years, mainly the undersea power cable between Montenegro and Italy. About EUR 9.5 million euros will be returned through reduced bills during 2025, and the rest will follow in subsequent years, according to the country’s energy regulator. On the other hand, consumers can soon expect a slight increase in the price of electricity, Vijesti reports.

The Energy and Water Regulatory Agency of Montenegro believes that repaying the entire sum at once would adversely affect CGES’ business in 2025. However, Momir Škopelja, a former member of the agency’s board, argues that the decision is not right, given that the company’s net profit last year was EUR 35.7 million, of which EUR 10 million was paid in dividends, and that its total retained earnings amount to EUR 80 million.

Škopelja: CGES could pay the entire refund in a single year

He says that CGES could pay the entire refund in a single year, which would only reduce its retained earnings without adversely affecting its operations. He expressed the belief that EUR 25.3 million can be returned to consumers in 2025, adding they should not wait several years for the full refund.

Electricity price will rise slightly in January

Consumers are facing more bad news, as the regulator recently decided to further raise the maximum allowed revenue for the Montenegrin distribution system operator, CEDIS, by about EUR 13.5 million next year. The increase is higher than the reduction for CGES, which means that starting in January, there would be a slight increase in the total price of electricity.

The price will go up even if state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) does not increase its own item on the bills. The company has not significantly changed it for 15 years, even though it has the right to do so without the regulator’s consent whenever there is a disturbance in the market or an increase in its costs.

EPCG will be importing large amounts of electricity in 2025 if TPP Pljevlja is taken offline for overhaul

EPCG previously said it was still considering whether to increase its item in electricity bills. Next year, thermal power plant Pljevlja could be offline for as long as eight months for the so-called ecological reconstruction. During that time, Montenegro would import significant amounts of electricity, and at prices up to three times higher than those charged by EPCG to its consumers.

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

Rolls-Royce SMR to start works with CEZ on small modular reactors

Rolls-Royce SMR to start works with ČEZ on small modular reactors

22 July 2025 - Rolls-Royce SMR and Czech utility ČEZ have signed an early works agreement within their strategic partnership for small modular reactors

croatia vireas agency north AI energy

Meet VIREAS: new AI-powered virtual assistant for energy

22 July 2025 - The VIREAS app is an interactive platform that enables users to engage with an AI assistant on various topics related to energy

Slovenia grants renewables district heating cooling

Slovenia kicks off grants program for renewables-based district heating, cooling

22 July 2025 - Slovenia is cofunding the construction or restructuring of district heating and cooling systems using renewable energy sources

Germany supports Serbia in clean energy supply, environmental protection

Germany supports Serbia in clean energy supply, environmental protection

22 July 2025 - Serbia and KfW signed a EUR 135 million loan for the second phase of the Green Transition Development Policy Operation (DPO II) program