Serbian Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic told Tanjug on Friday that the price of electricity should not increase before April 1. The Ministry of Energy does not decide on the price of electricity as this point falls under the jurisdiction of the Energy Agency, Mihajlovic said and specified that the price of electricity can increase only after the business society in charge of public supplies founded within the Electric Power Industry of the Republic of Serbia (EPS) on Friday gets a licence for operation and delivers the official request for price rise to the Agency.
“This cannot happen before April 1,” Mihajlovic said and added that electricity bills should increase by 8 to 12 percent.
Speaking about the tariff system, Mihajlovic underscored that the draft of the new tariff system, which should have been released on Friday, was withdrawn for additional adjustments because the system needs to be fair and ensure that the greatest electricity consumers pay energy more than others who are more energy efficient and do not use electricity for heating.
“If the tariff system is changed, then there need to be certain alternatives for the consumers we want to limit in terms of use of electricity for heating purposes,” Mihajlovic said.
She underscored that the methodology of price establishment and defining government-regulated prices of energy sources are adopted by the Agency for Energy, and recalled that the minister has no word in this matter, but that the Ministry can assist the agency and protect interests of citizens, economy and the entire energy system in the interim period.
The Energy Agency released on Friday that the public debate on the methodology for establishing the price of electricity for public supplies would be delayed until an adequate solution for households heating by means of electricity is found.
Source Tanjug
