site.btaNearly 30% of Bulgaria’s Population Faces Energy Poverty, Economic and Social Council Reports

The Economic and Social Council (ESC) adopted a position on energy poverty in Bulgaria and the necessary policies ahead of the upcoming liberalization of the energy market, the Council reported. According to the ESC, 1.8 million people, or about 30% of the population of Bulgaria, fall into the group of energy-poor households, which do not have access to basic energy services for adequate heating, cooling, lighting and energy provision for household appliances. Additionally, about 365,000 are vulnerable customers.

In Bulgaria, the number of people who were unable to keep their homes warm enough was 20.7%, ranking first in the European Union for this indicator. At the EU level, a significant increase is reported to 10.6% in 2023 compared to 6.9% in 2021.

One of the Council’s recommendations is that the social partners and the State should discuss adding an inflation index to the formula for determining the official poverty line in order to overcome the abandonment of the income criterion in determining household status. As part of the national strategy to combat energy poverty, a mechanism to determine the level of compensation in a liberalized market for different groups of household consumers should be established. Compensation should be differentiated according to the income and type of beneficiaries and limited to the electricity bills of the household’s main dwelling.

The ESC warned that liberalization is expected to increase prices and urged for cross-system connectivity with the European energy market as well as a rethinking of the pricing model. It also proposed the creation of a European Energy Solidarity Fund to compensate the differences in prices on the exchanges in South-Eastern Europe with those in Central Europe, as the representatives of business, trade unions and civil society organizations insist.