Skopje, 27 November 2023 (MIA) - According to the latest amendments to the Energy Law, the universal electricity supplier, EVN Home, is obliged to calculate the price of electricity using the same tariff system that the Energy Regulatory Commission has used until now. This pricing adjustment is set to take effect from January 1 of the upcoming year in the regulated market, President of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Marko Bislimoski said.

These calculations, as Bislimoski explained, are then submitted by the universal supplier to the ERC. If the regulator has any remarks regarding the application of the tariff system and the method by which the calculations were executed, it issues a separate decision and sends it to the universal supplier that is obligated to implement it.

“The final prices, instead of ERC, will be published in the Official Gazette by the universal supplier. This concept, harmonized with European legislation, is being applied for the first time in Macedonia. Previously, the final decision was made by the ERC, but now there is an additional step involving verification by the universal supplier. The universal supplier is obliged to disclose the prices for households and small consumers, Bislimovski said in TV Telma’s Top Tema show.

Bislimoski said that ERC will oversee the verification process for at least five years, marking a crucial step towards the full liberalization of the electricity market in the country for households. This move is a guarantee against price shocks for citizens. In the meantime, ERC will continue to make decisions regarding network fees and the transmission of electrical energy on the regulated market.

He confirmed that there will be no changes to the four block tariffs and added that the first block will continue to be from 0-210 kW/h, the second from 210-630 kW/h, the third from 630 - 1,050 kW/h, and the fourth for over 1,050 kW/h.

“We had a meeting with the IMF. They had requests to reduce the block tariffs, to decrease the first block by 10 to 15 percent and a certain percentage for the second, in order to encourage more consumption in the third and fourth blocks. I explained to them that the problem is mathematical and that if we reduce the block tariffs, the universal supplier will provide more funds, which it won't be able to take, and it will have to return them, and thus, it won't have any effect on the price. Therefore, there are no further remarks, and there will be no changes to the block tariffs," Bislimoski said.

The licence of the existing universal supplier, EVN Home, is set to expire on June 30, 2024. As announced by Bislimoski, the government is expected to release a tender soon for the selection of a new universal electricity supplier, and the selection is anticipated to be completed by the end of March.

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