Who's gonna pay the most for electricity?

Citizens interviewed by Radio Free Europe in Pristina do not know exactly what growth will be like for them, but say that, as well, they pay high bills for the current.

Halim Hajoli, pensioner from Pristina, says he has paid 109 euros for the last bill.

Faceless “, brother. No one can afford this growth, no matter what state there is”, Hajoll says.

Fik Tenezhdol, who has paid about 120 euros for the last bill, agrees.

No parameter is in favour of expensive electricity. This is a people who are oppressed. They promise that by April there's no expensiveness, and if they do this with the blockade, then they only violate this people”, Tenezhdol says.

Based on the payments, both Hajoli and Tenzhdol are expected to be in the category of citizens the ZERE has proposed to raise the price of electricity.

Who wants to pay more?

To explain more simply what the demand for electricity price growth implies, Z. The RRE has divided consumers into five categories: A, B, C, D, E.

If you are in category A, so if you spend 300 kilowatt hours of electricity in one month, then your current bill price is 18.87 euros. Z The RRE has proposed that this bill be raised to 20.40 euros. But, with government subsidies, your bill will remain the same: 18.87 euros.

If you are in category B, or over a month you spend 450 kilowatts, then your current bill price is 27.37 euros. Z The RRE has proposed that this bill be raised to 29.66 euros. But, with government subsidies, your bill will remain the same: 27.37 euros.

If you are in category C, which means that in a month you spend 600 kilowatts, then the current price of your bill is 35.86 euros. Z The RRE has proposed that this bill be raised to 38.92 euros. But, with government subsidies, your bill remains the same: 35.86 euros.

If you are in category D, so if you spend 800 kilowatts during the month, then your current bill price is 47.19 euros. Z The RRE has proposed that this bill be raised to 74.17 euros. But, with government subsidies, your bill will be 59.50 euros.

If you are in category E, which means that during the month you spend 1,000 kilowatts, then your current bill price is 58.52 euros. Z The RRE has proposed that this bill be raised to 109.42 euros. But, with government subsidies, your bill will be 83.14 euros.

As explained in the ZERE Consultative Report for Extensive Examination of Electric Power Targets, growth affects only two categories of households, D and E, respectively, those citizens who spend over 800, over 1,000 kilowatts.

For the D category, which spends 800 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, the bill is expected to rise for 12 euros and 31 cents.

For citizens in the E category, who spend 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month, the bill is expected to rise to 24 euros and 62 cents.

For the increase of electricity bills to be less high and not to become unbearable for a category of citizens, the Government of Kosovo has allocated a total of 75m euros in subvention form.

These subsidies also apply to businesses, which even after the ZERE proposal if approved will not have electricity tariffs increased.

The Kosovo government has said that raising bills for businesses would have a negative impact on the economy.

The raising of tariffs has not affected businesses. In this way the impact will be limited on rising prices of products and services offered in our economy”, Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said.

Government subsidies will be exploited for a period of one year.

The increased bills, if the ZERE proposal is passed, will begin from February 1st, 2022, and their regular review is expected to take place in March 2023.

At what stage is the ZERE proposal?

The ZERE has come up with the proposal for increased bills on January 17th, as electricity prices have increased in European markets as well, affecting Kosovo's imports prices.

The ZERE has also said that during 2021, significant growth in the demand for electricity has been noted, which has violated supply security and, weeks ago, led to reductions.

The ZERE proposal is currently in public consultation.

The GER has invited all parties, including citizens, to send comments, corrections or counter-arrangements.

The public consulting phase will be completed on January 28th, 2022, at 6:00.

Then the ZERE remains to harmonise its proposal with accepted comments and make the final decision.

If the proposal is approved as it is, the February bill will go to consumers with increases.

Syla: Business Should Not Be disfellowshipped

Energy field recognition in Kosovo, Lulzim Syla, says that setting up the ZRRE tariffs could have a positive impact on overcoming the energy crisis, preventing supply safety from taking place.

Syla, however, feels that the proposed growth would have to involve businesses, not just domestic consumers.

Perhaps there should be an open discussion with businesses, so that some of the burden of this cost can be moved to a small increase in energy prices and businesses, because despite the economic situation, electricity is available to businesses as well. A small increase in businesses would balance the burden of the financial burden for citizens”, Syla says.

He also says that the process of expensive electricity proposal from the ZRRE requires more clarification and information.

According to him, Z. The HR and the Government of Kosovo should be clearer, as any increase, however small, has an impact on citizens.

“Block-tarifat is a good mechanism in such situations as Kosovo, but not necessarily they [should] be 100 percent higher as the ultimate price... But it needs to be seen what the concrete impact of these 75m euros that the Government has proposed for support of a certain group of these consumers, which affects the new blockade. It means, we still need additional clarifications, both from the ZERE and the Kosovo Government”, says Syla.

Block-tariffs have been part of Kosovo's tariff power structure between 2006 and 2017.

According to them, when a family economy has spent more than 600 kilowatts per month, the price for it has been higher compared to families that spent under 600 and 300 kilowatts a month.

The ZERE removed them about five years ago.