Feed-in tariff

The government is set to implement a €100 million subsidy package to shield households and businesses from soaring wholesale electricity prices.

The plan includes direct subsidies and tax breaks for consumers, combined with a temporary tax on electricity producers' profits. 

In the first half of 2024, household electricity and natural gas prices in Bulgaria ranked among the lowest in the European Union, according to recent data from Eurostat. Overall, electricity prices for EU households showed a slight decline in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, while Bulgarian households benefitted from notably low rates.

A different landscape in the color layout of electricity charges, with additions and subtractions to tariffs, as well as radical changes to the zone of cheap electricity and everyday habits, is planned by the government from the beginning of the year. The changes make green tariffs optional and emphasize fixed tariffs that offer pricing certainty without surprises.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy on Tuesday announced a boost in electricity bill support for more than 700,000 vulnerable households in October.

For households under the Social Residential Tariff, the subsidy amounts to 30 euros per megawatt-hour or 3 cents/kWh for the entire consumption.

As power suppliers prepare to present on Tuesday their October tariffs, Kathimerini reveals that every other euro consumers pay to electricity companies goes to third parties for a host of other fees and charges.

To put out the fires lit by the heatwave and July’s wide fluctuations in the wholesale price of current for a fortnight, the government has succeeded in keeping the electricity kilowatt-hour below 15 cents with the support of power generators and the big discounts offered by the PPC.

At 1.6 cents per kilowatt hour, the extraordinary support on electricity bills for August consumption is set at 1.6 cents per kilowatt hour, the Ministry of Environment and Energy announced.

Thus, the final price for the majority of consumers (which depends on the tariff of each provider) is formed below 15 cents per kilowatt hour.

The amendment imposing a special levy on natural gas power plants, which is set at 10 euros per megawatt-hour, has been submitted to Parliament.

Revenues from the special levy will be used to fund a subsidy on household electricity tariffs in August, the amount of which will be finalized by the end of the week, to keep final consumer prices close to 15 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The Residential Night Rate for electricity for the summer period starts on Wednesday and will last until October 31.

The summer schedule for the residential nighttime tariff provides reduced rates between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. 

Eurostat's latest findings have shed light on the shifting landscape of household energy prices in the European Union, with Bulgaria emerging as a frontrunner in affordability. According to the report released on Thursday, Bulgaria secured the title of having the EU's second-lowest household electricity prices in the second half of 2023, trailing only behind Hungary.