Starting from June 1, large companies in Kosovo will no longer be supplied with electricity in the same way as other consumers.
The Energy Regulatory Office has decided that these companies will enter the open market and will have the right to choose their own supplier.
This applies to all companies that have more than 50 employees or a turnover of 10 million euros.
According to KESCO, depending on the demand, the electricity prices for these businesses may also change.
“In this period, all companies that have over 50 employees or over 10 million euros in turnover will automatically enter the open market. What we have done as a company is that we have sent a notice to each consumer, and if they do not meet these criteria, they can come to us with certain documents from the Kosovo Tax Administration, to prove that they will be able to be supplied with regulated electricity tariffs by KESCO. On the other hand, all consumers who do not provide the documents within this period will not meet the criteria,” said Margarita Rashiti, KESCO spokesperson, for Teve1.
This change is not being agreed upon by the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce (OEK).
The President of OEK, Lulëzim Rafuna, says that KESCO will set the prices themselves, as other suppliers will not have enough capacity to offer energy to businesses.
“This creates a huge inequality between large and small businesses. Small businesses will remain with the regulated price set by ZRRE, while large businesses will be forced to buy electricity at higher prices. This will lead to consequences for the final product, where we will have a much more expensive product that will be billed to Kosovo’s consumers,” Rafuna said.
He also stated that KESCO did not consult businesses about this change.
However, unlike Rafuna, energy expert Vezir Rexhepi argues that this will be a good opportunity for companies.
“The Energy Regulatory Office has set the rules for the process of liberalizing the electricity market. In this context, it has been planned that companies with a turnover of over 10 million euros and more than 50 employees will have the opportunity to choose their electricity supplier. This means that they will have better opportunities to be supplied by any supplier they choose for better prices, more transparency, and innovation,” Rexhepi stated.
Businesses, along with the Energy Regulatory Office, are expected to hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the new decision.
