Skopje, 17 June 2024 (MIA) - More concrete information on the new price of electricity that will be valid from July 1 2024 will be released next week with the end of the contract of the current universal supplier - EVN Home. So far, we have had much more difficult periods and we have never allowed serious changes to the price of electricity, we have always made sure to preserve citizens' standard, and now we will be guided exclusively by their needs, said Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) head Marko Bislimoski on Monday.

He stressed that more concrete information on the price of electricity will be available next week once the ERC has all necessary parameters available. The price, he added, will be affected by the profit margin, which from July 1 will be 9.9 percent instead of the current 11.5 percent. The new price of electricity is determined now, and not in December because the contract and licence of the current universal supplier ends on June 30. Next year, Bislimoski said, we will not be making a decision in June, but in December, which will be valid for the entirety of 2026.

"ERC has never allowed price shocks, and we will use all mechanism available to not allow that to happen now. We will wait for the electricity procurement tender to end on June 21, and for EVN Home to deliver the electricity price calculations to the ERC control department to determine the new price. We are making efforts and analysis to be the first country in Europe to have three hours of cheap electricity tariff during the day. This measure will not be implemented from July 1, but November, December or January of next year. It all depends on the analysis," Bislimoski stressed.

The Government has already made a decision that the electricity price EVN Home will offer to the new universal supplier after July 1 will be EUR 60 per megawatt hour. Additionally, ERC will not offer 100 percent of the needs of small consumers and households that are market regulated, but 85 percent.

"This price of EUR 60 per megawatt hour came as a surprise to me as well in a way, because during the crisis the price was lower, but we still managed. I am concerned about the 15 percent that EVN Home will have to supply to the free market. The futures we see during the day have a price between EUR 90 and EUR 100, which is higher than what ERC offers. As before, we will use all mechanisms to avoid price shocks," Bislimoski said.

He added that the price of bread is not related to the price of electricity on the regulated market, and that the largest bread manufacturers in the country, around 95 percent of companies, meet their electricity needs from the free market.

"Lately, the electricity price on the free market is much lower than it was in 2023, 2022, and 2021. Therefore, it is untrue that the change in the price at which the universal supplier will supply small consumers will affect the price hike of bread. It is totally inaccurate and represents the most vulgar speculation," Bislimski stated. ssh/nn/

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