Consumers to be repaid for power cuts

“There are agreements between the public wholesalers and retailers which provide sanctions against them. There is an agreement even with the Operator of the Transmission System, hence there are sanctions that can be collected even by the citizen, to whom the damages are caused”, says Eduard Elezi, legal director in ERE.

The sanctions have not been assigned yet, but the ERE say that Albania has the conditions for supplying the costumers with energy 24/7, even in drought.

“The line that connects Elbasan with Montenegro is very powerful and can cover the entire power consumption”, Elezi declared.

The new draft-agreement, now in a discussion phase with the interest groups, will change the penalties for the citizens who don’t pay energy bills in time.

“The existing agreement has a penalty of 0.5% per day, and not more than 100% of the entire bill. In the new draft we will propose a penalty of 0.1% per day, and with 50% of the bill”, Elezi declared.

 CEZ applies for new fees

August is considered the hottest season for the CEZ Distribution Company, since it is the period when they plan the new energy bill fees.

The same goes for KESH and OST, two state owned companies that have a big weight in the final price assignment.

Official sources from the Energy Regulatory Entity (ERE) explained for “Shqip” the procedure that will be followed until the final approval of the fees.“Within the first week of September, CEZ Company must file at ERE the application for the new energy fees.

On October, CEZ will make the application public, for the consumers and groups of interest”, says ERE, adding that the culmination of the negotiations will be on December, when they will decide for the final fee that will enter in act on January 2012.

CEZ official sources confirm the planning of a price package that will be proposed to ERE on September. The Company says that they have worked hard for offering a database and fee application that refers to the real indicators of this sector.

Low encashment and the high level of losses are two of the main arguments for a price change, which could be increased or remain the same.The chances for an energy price hike in 2012 are big, based on the current situation of KESH, to which the energy sale prices were lowered and has affected the finances of the corporation.

The average fee currently paid in average by the consumers, families and businesses, is 9.53 ALL per KW.For the families, the fee remains unchanged at 7.7 ALL per KW until 300 KW, while after this limit the price goes to 13.5 ALL per KW, without VAT.

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