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10.04.2014 16:01
© Eurelectric
The Union of the Electricity Industry in Europe - EURELECTRIC, has urged the European Commission to take immediate action on the worrisome regulatory trends in EU member state Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s regulatory agency is intending to revoke licences for power companies, to the benefit of the incumbent state monopoly, EURELECTRIC wrote in a recently released statement, further saying that the actions taken by the Bulgarian authorities undermine the credibility of the general European principles of equal treatment, fairness and transparency.
EURELECTRIC's action is the consequence of an emergency request by its Bulgarian member – the Energy Management Institute, as information on the Eurelectric website suggests.
In a letter sent to EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger and copied to Commissioners Almunia and Barnier, as well as ACER Director Alberto Potoschnigg, EURELECTRIC has expressed serious concerns regarding what is happening in the Bulgarian electricity sector. The procedure for revoking the licences of the three Bulgarian public suppliers of electricity, initiated by the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (the regulator), is unprecedented in the EU.
The companies concerned – EVN Bulgaria Electrosnabdjavane, CEZ Electro Bulgaria and Energo-Pro Sales – play an important role in the electricity supply of retail customers and in renewable electricity support scheme implementation: together with state-owned company NEC, they are obliged to purchase green electricity at preferential prices.
EURELECTRIC understands that the procedure for revocation of licences was launched following a complaint by NEC to the regulator, in which NEC requested that the three power suppliers return around BGN 400 million in connection with the purchase of green electricity. It should be mentioned that the Minister of Economy and Energy, the owner of NEC, had strongly supported and publicly provoked the abovementioned action of the regulator.
As a matter of fact the regulatory policy and practice have been at the origin of the financial deficit in the electricity system, not least because of the lack of regulated revenues for purchasing green electricity. In this sense, the regulator’s behaviour will lead to manifold commercial disputes on electricity and with the electricity companies. In the abovementioned case, the regulator and government institutions interfered unduly and in a discriminatory manner in favour of the state-owned company NEC.
EURELECTRIC describes this situation as unprecedented.
“Private companies from EU member states that invest in another EU member state are increasingly under pressure and risk the discontinuation of their licensed activities because they strictly adhere to national and European legislation”, the organization statement further reads.
EURELECTRIC members also reported emerging signs of similar developments in other countries of the region, such as in Moldova. EURELECTRIC and its members want to contribute to an improved investment framework in particular in South East Europe, the countries covered by the Energy Community, but the current trends have to be seen as a roll-back on any such attempt.
EURELECTRIC is also said it is closely following the regulatory developments in the power sector in Europe’s neighbourhood, through its dedicated group.
A conference on the needed environment for investments in the region will be held on 28 October 2014.
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