Premier Energy asks NAER to raise electricity tariffs for household consumers by almost 25% - from 2.17 to 2.71 lei per 1 kWh without VAT.
This includes a request that Premier Energy sent to the National Agency for Energy Regulation. The company requested an adjustment in regulated prices for the supply of electricity to end consumers, referring to the decision of the Commission on Emergency Situations on May 23, according to which, in the event of an increase in prices for electricity purchased on the wholesale market by universal service providers and / or suppliers of last resort and system operators, that will have an impact of more than 5% on income determined when approving the current prices/tariffs, deviating from the procedures established in the Electricity Law, the Energy Law and the Law on Transparency in Decision Making: universal service providers and / or providers of last resort and system within 2 business days, operators submit requests to the National Agency for Energy Regulation to adjust regulated prices for the supply of electricity to end consumers and electricity transmission tariffs, and NAER must adjust and publish electricity transmission tariffs within 5 business days and regulated prices for the supply of electricity to end consumers. Premier Energy cites the upward trend in electricity purchase prices compared to those used in the calculations that formed the basis of the latest regulated electricity supply prices approved this year. Thus, according to the calculations that were used to justify the regulated supply prices approved by the NAER's decision of March 18, 2022, the hypothesis of purchasing a basic amount of electricity at a price of 5.35 cents per kWh was applied during the period. This electricity purchase price was in line with the contract that was in effect until the end of March. Subsequently, on the basis of the order of the Commission for Emergency Situations dated March 7, the corresponding contract was extended on the same terms for April and the price of electricity remained at the level of 5.35 cents per 1 kWh. However, subsequently the purchase price of electricity for May increased to 6 cents per 1 kWh from source 1, and to 8.47 cents per kWh from source 2, which is an increase of approximately 26% compared to the purchase price for electricity at the end of April. Premier Energy clarifies that in June, the purchase prices for electricity from the specified supplier have some deviations compared to the previous month and amount to 6.04 / 7.8 cents per kW, respectively, from source 1 and source 2, which will be lower compared to May by 2.5%, but more than in April by 23%. Taking into account the above, it is assumed that in the remaining period of the year, electricity prices will remain at least at the level of June prices. At the same time, Premier Energy drew attention to the change in the exchange rate, in comparison with what is used in the calculations used for the latest regulated prices for the supply of electricity, approved by NAER. Thus, when approving tariffs in March, the average annual rate of 17.79 lei per $1 was used, while in the period from January 1 to May 31, 2022, the exchange rate varied from 17.7452 to 19.1667 lei per dollar. As a result, this led to an increase in real costs for the purchase of electricity at a price fixed in US dollars, only in January-May by about 0.37 million lei. Further maintaining the exchange rate at the level of 19 lei per dollar will lead to additional expenses in the amount of about 112 million lei in the remaining period of the year (June-December this year). The company points out that the exchange rate has a significant impact on the cost of energy purchases, since about 80% of the required amount is purchased at fixed prices in US dollars. Based on the above, the company proposed to apply the estimated exchange rate of 19 lei per dollar for the period from June to December. Premier Energy also drew attention to the potential for an increase in the price of selling electricity from a central supplier by about 20% against the backdrop of a 26% increase in natural gas prices from June 1 for companies receiving it through gas distribution networks of high average pressure, resulting in higher prices and for electricity generated by district heating plants, which will eventually lead to an increase of about 20% in the cost of supplying energy by the central supplier. The company noted that taking into account the above-described influencing factors in the new energy purchase conditions, the average purchase price of energy for 2022 will increase to 154.7 bani per kWh and exceed the corresponding average price of 134.4 bani per kWh, taken into account in current tariffs, by 20.3 bani per kWh (+15.1%). According to the request of Premier Energy, in particular, for the end consumers of Premier Energy, whose electrical installations are connected to the low voltage distribution grid (0.4 kV), the tariff for the supplied electricity is proposed to be increased by 24.9% - from 217 to 271 bani (excluding VAT). For Premier Energy consumers connected to medium voltage networks (6; 10 kV), by 29.5% - from 186 to 240.8 bani, and for those connected to high voltage networks (35; 110 kV), by 31.9% - from 173 to 228.2 bani per 1 kWh. It should be noted that the last adjustment of electricity tariffs for final consumers in Moldova was made on April 1, and then, by the decision of NAER, electricity tariffs for residential consumers of Premier Energy increased by 43.7% - up to 2.17 lei per 1 kWh without VAT.// 06.06.2022 — InfoMarket
