New electricity tariffs come into effect from March 1, as provided for by the 5th phase of equation of electricity prices for households. This was stated by Dmytro Vovk, head of the National Commission for state regulation of energy and public utilities (NKREKP), at a press briefing held at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
There will be two tariffs blocks: one with a price of UAH 0,90 (VAT included) for amounts up to 100 kilowatt-hours per month, the second is UAH 1,68 (VAT included) for consumptions over 100 kilowatt-hours per month. “Today, 40% of consumers consume less than 100 kilowatt- hours. They will continue paying the preferential price, which is only 54% of the second block price. The change of a monthly bill for these consumers is UAH 18. The change of a monthly bill for those who consume less than 50 kilowatt-hours (about 15% of all consumers) is UAH 9. The change of a monthly bill for those who consume 150 kilowatt-hours (about 60% of all consumers) is UAH 38,” detailed Dmytro Vovk. He noted that the second block tariffs are almost three times lower than the average tariffs in the EU. The highest tariffs are in Denmark, it is UAH 8.80, the lowest is in Bulgaria, UAH 2.7 .
NKREKP head reminded that consumers can save money by installing a zone-based metering device. “At night, they have a 50% discount and can regulate electrical devices that consume a lot of electricity and turn them on at night,” he said. Dmytro Vovk reminded that last year the procedure of zone-based meter installation was simplified: you can buy a meter independently and not only in the regional power distribution company. Besides, clear deadlines of meter parameterization were set. As of January 1, 400,000 consumers installed such meters. Dmytro Vovk also reminded that consumers may require that the licensee should compensate them for violation of the service standards. “Now, depending on the standard, the consumer can get a discount of UAH 50 to UAH 1,000 for the standard violation. This discount comes as an advance payment for the next month’s consumption. If the power company did not clear this down payment during the first month, they are obliged to double the amount in the next month. If this is not done even then, after the audit Commission will oblige the regional power distribution company to make a 5-fold advance payment for the consumer,” he detailed.
The head of NKREKP added that until April 1, all consumers should receive information letters together with the utility bills, in which the licensee will provide all information about the services provided in 2016: the amount and cost of energy services, compared with the average level for this category of consumers in the region and in Ukraine, quality indicators, etc.
Dmytro Vovk said that the decision on refusing cross-subsidization was made in late 2014 as part of the coalition agreement. It was expected that during 2015-2017 years the prices would be gradually equalized for all categories and targeted subsidies to consumers would be launched. Today, the amount of cross-subsidization has decreased almost 3.5 times, from USD 5 billion in 2013 to USD 1.4 billion, by 21% of the wholesale market price.