The National Assembly hastily adopted new changes to the Energy Law

A customer connected to a gas transmission network can ask the transmission network operator to install a gas chromatograph with a remote report for determining the component composition of natural gas, which is a measuring tool and is subject to metrological control under the Measurements Act. This is what the MPs decided with the amendments to the Energy Law adopted in the second reading.

The data from the gas chromatograph will be usable in determining the measured quantities of natural gas from the commercial metering device, as well as for converting the measured quantities of natural gas from units to volumes. The costs of the purchase, installation and maintenance of the gas chromatograph are at the customer's expense, it is written in the amendments. Ownership of the installation of the gas chromatograph is transferred free of charge to the gas transmission network operator, and the customer receives free access to the data generated by the gas chromatograph. The conditions for installation and use of the device are regulated by a contract provided by the operator of the gas transmission network within 30 days of receipt of the client's request.

This text, submitted at the suggestion of the chairman of the commission on energy, Delyan Dobrev, already during the examination in the commission on energy, caused controversy. As it became clear, there is no laboratory in Bulgaria where such a device can be licensed. "Bulgartransgaz", which has installed such devices, used a European laboratory for this. According to Dobrev, the price of such a device is between BGN 60,000 and 70,000.

As it became clear, the request for the insertion of this text is at the suggestion of Sofia District Heating. During the debate in the commission, Delyan Dobrev expressed doubt that "Bulgartransgaz" had no technological losses on the network and did not accept the explanations of the company's representative.

During today's debates, Pavela Miteva from "There is such a people" explained that there are things that are not clear, although the proposed text looks good. She drew attention to the fact that it is not clear what the expected effect will be, since the one who will read the chromatograph will be the same operator who supplies the gas and determines the caloric value data.

Delyan Dobrev, for his part, reminded that no one will buy chromatographs if they don't want to. "The owner buys it, the owner installs it and offers it to his own operator," he said and repeated his words to the energy commission that this text gives an opportunity to businesses and consumers who doubt that their bill is inflated to buy a device that will measure the calorific value of the gas on the basis of which an invoice will be drawn up.

Another amendment to the Energy Act provides for the connection of an immovable cultural heritage site within the meaning of the Cultural Heritage Act to the power transmission or distribution network, the installation of a means of commercial measurement in a way that does not disturb the external architectural appearance of the site. In the event that the means of commercial measurement cannot be installed in a way that does not disturb the external architectural appearance of the object, the operator of the electricity transmission or distribution network installs a means of commercial measurement with remote reading inside or outside the boundaries of the object, the people's representatives adopted.

As explained earlier the aim is also to have no "dangling cables". For this purpose, however, the electricity distribution companies will have to make investments.

With the amendments to the Law on Energy adopted in the second reading, introduced by the people's representatives from "BSP for Bulgaria" Dragomir Stoynev and Georgi Gyokov, it is also regulated that those working as operative duty personnel in underground hydroelectric power plants and PAVEC for which reduced working hours have been established time, according to the Labor Code, they can work in shifts. The maximum duration of a work shift when calculating the total working time can be up to 12 hours, regardless of the duration of the reduced working time.

With the adopted texts, amendments are also made to the Law on the Protection of Agricultural Lands, as well as to the Law on Limiting Climate Change. Some of the amendments concern texts that the president commented on in the veto, but most of the texts remain unchanged. Before the amendments were voted on and during the discussion, the submitter Dragomir Tsonev stated that these were not the texts submitted by him, thus making changes to the legislation with one reading.