Bulgarian MPs voted Wednesday to protect households from rising energy costs by freezing their electricity and heating prices to current levels. In the past, rising prices have sparked protests in the Balkan country, where poor households often struggle to pay their bills over the winter. Bulgaria’s independent energy regulator has announced an increase in electricity prices by an average of 11.5 per cent and heating prices by up to 30 per cent for households from 1 January, which will be in line with market prices where companies buy their energy.
In Macedonia, EVN has already submitted a request for 100% increase due to large network losses and high stock market prices of electricity, which according to ERC President Marko Bislimovski, which would mean a 34% increase in the final electricity bill. The request from MEPSO is also expected to arrive, who have already announced that their calculations show 60% higher costs, which would mean an additional 4% increase in the final bill. Apart from MEPSO, the request of EVN Home is also expected.
