The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) approved a natural gas price of EUR 58.43 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for November, excluding access and transmission charges, excise duty and VAT, the regulator said on Monday. At this price, Bulgargaz will sell natural gas to end suppliers and companies licensed to produce and transmit heat energy.

The approved price is 32.52% higher than in October, according to BTA.

At an open meeting on October 28, EWRC rejected Bulgargaz’s initial proposal of EUR 59.08/MWh and asked the public supplier to find ways to reduce it and achieve the most favourable possible price for Bulgarian consumers.

EWRC Chair Plamen Mladenovski said that despite the current extreme prices on international energy markets, reaching EUR 100-105/MWh, an increase of 34% is unacceptable because it would be a shock to district heating companies and the Bulgarian economy. He also said the Commission currently had regulatory mechanisms available to prevent increases in household electricity and heating prices from January 1.

Following EWRC’s call to reduce the proposed sharp increase, Bulgargaz secured additional volumes of natural gas from the Chiren underground gas storage facility. Without that measure, and given the higher current prices on the Dutch gas exchange, the November increase would have reached 39.37% compared with October, EWRC said.

Had international prices remained at their October 12 levels, when Bulgargaz submitted its application, the revised supply mix with additional Chiren volumes would have limited the increase to around 28%.

The November supply mix also includes the full monthly quantities under Bulgaria’s long-term contract with Azerbaijan, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchased under contracts with traders following a tender procedure.

The approved November price includes the component for the price of natural gas at the entry points to the gas transmission networks, the public-supply component under the Ordinance on Natural Gas Price Regulation, and a component covering Bulgargaz’s costs for storing gas at Chiren in fulfilment of obligations under the Emergency Action Plan.

At the October 28 meeting on Bulgargaz’s initial proposal for a 34% month-on-month increase, the company’s Executive Director Georgi Tatarski said the price would be revised downward following the purchase of additional quantities from the Chiren storage facility.