The ombudsman asked EWRC to "declassify" the new prices for electricity, heating and hot water requested by the companies

The ombudsman Diana Kovacheva sent a recommendation to the chairman of the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (СEWR), Prof. Dr. Ivan Ivanov, in which she insisted on maximum publicity and transparency of the entire pricing process in the energy sector.

The reason for this recommendation is the "applications for approval of prices" published by the Regulator, submitted by licensee companies in the "Electricity" and "Heating" sectors, for the price period July 1, 2023 - April 30, 2024, where in practice in a significant some of them are missing the final prices of electricity and heat energy. The problem is that these key numerical expressions are omitted in the documents on the grounds of commercial and/or industrial secrecy of the companies.

"I draw attention to the fact that these are the companies' proposals for final prices, and not initial data for their formation, which there would be reasons to believe that they represent a commercial and/or production secret," writes Prof. Kovacheva.

She is categorical that, in this way, citizens and other interested parties are unjustifiably deprived of information - contrary to the text of Art. 15, para. 2 of the Law on Energy, according to which СEWR publishes on its website the proposals of energy companies for approval of prices, together with all source data.

"It is unacceptable that the prices themselves are missing from the price proposals published by СEWR. In this way, the purpose of the law is not fulfilled," the ombudsman emphasizes.

Diana Kovacheva also refers to the right of citizens to receive information, enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (OJ, C 326/391 of October 26, 2012).

She draws attention to another fact - with each passing year, the number of companies from the "Electricity" and "Heating" sectors increases, which define the final prices offered by them as "secret" and emphasizes that "once admitted, due to the lack of publicity and transparency, this practice undermines confidence in the regulatory process'.

"Taking into account the many aspects of the complex situation in the energy sector, related to the extremely high prices of energy resources on international markets, as well as carbon emission quotas, it is my firm opinion that the entire pricing process in the energy sector should be as public as possible and transparent", writes Diana Kovacheva. She insists on taking timely actions to publish the proposals of the licensee companies for the final prices before the procedure for public discussion of the applications - art. 14 of the Law on Energy.

In conclusion, the ombudsman emphasizes that the multiple increases in the prices of hot water and steam from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 requested by the heat transmission companies are unfounded, and that the trade in electricity and heat energy must be carried out under guarantee and the interests of consumers - art. 2, para. 2 of the Law on Energy.