Are citizens and businesses in Republika Srpska expecting higher electricity prices from the New Year? Prime Minister Radovan Višković confirmed that Elektroprivreda’s request for an increase in electricity prices has been sent to the Electricity Regulatory Commission, but that the entity government has the final say. The requested 20 percent increase is unacceptable, as it will cause a chain of price increases, say citizens and consumer rights advocates. Elektroprivreda has not yet commented.
Citizens and businesses in Republika Srpska could once again face higher electricity bills from the New Year. After this year’s increases due to higher network charges, this time it could happen due to Elektroprivreda’s request for an increase in electricity prices, by 20 percent.
That Elektroprivreda has sent a request to the Regulatory Commission for an increase in electricity prices, was confirmed by the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković.
“The initiative from Elektroprivreda has been sent to the Electricity Regulatory Agency, but they cannot do so without the consent of the Government. Therefore, anyone can submit an initiative, it is a regular proposal,” said Višković.
And whether the Government of Republika Srpska will give its consent, they say, will be known when the issue comes to the Government’s agenda. The ruling party is of the opinion that care will be taken to ensure that the price of electricity remains the lowest in the region, but that the functioning of the system is not jeopardized if inputs become more expensive.
The Consumers’ Movement warns that such moves could lead to new chain price increases.
“The problem here is not just the increase in the price of electricity. Everything will become more expensive in a chain, including all economic services under the jurisdiction of Republika Srpska, local self-government units, and everything will be justified by increasing the price of electricity,” says Ostoja Kremenović from the Consumers’ Movement of RS.
The business community says that possible new electricity price increases, in conditions of difficult economic conditions and reduced exports, are unacceptable.
“We have lost our competitive advantage in terms of electricity prices for the economy due to price increases in recent years. We can say that the stagnation of electricity prices on the world market is somewhere around 100 euros, so with these electricity prices and last year’s increases in network charges, we will approximately reach the prices in the European Union and thus lose competitiveness,” says Saša Aćić from the Union of Employers of the Republic of Serbia.
Elektroprivreda RS is also allegedly seeking to lower consumption thresholds at the expense of the customer. Thus, the lowest tariff would apply to households that consume up to 300 kilowatts per month, instead of the previous 500 kilowatts, while the second threshold, which currently stands at 1,000 kilowatts, would be lowered to 500.
“We are talking about two types, three types of price increases. One is a price increase for households, the second for the economy, and the third is a reduction in the amount of quotas that have been defined by tariff rates so far. So this is more than rude from Elektroprivreda,” believes economist Zoran Pavlović.
The last increase in the price of electricity was in 2022, while at the beginning of this year the price of the network fee in the Republika Srpska increased, which ultimately certainly increased consumer bills, BHRT writes.
