News

10 February 2025

The Ombudsman Institution sent a letter to the Chairman of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) Assoc. Prof. Ivan Ivanov and to the Executive Director of the District Heating in Sofia Peter Petrov where he insists that the thousands of residents in Sofia in the districts Mladost-1, Stoudentski Grad, Durvenitsa, Vitosha and Malinova Dolina receive fair compensations for the breakdown of the central heating.

In addition, he insists that the EWRC conduct an unplanned inspection of the fulfilment of the repair and investment program of the Sofia District Heating Company (Toplofikacia Sofia EAD) to verify compliance with the licensing obligations of the company, specifically the obligation to maintain high-quality and uninterrupted heat supply during the 2024-2025 heating season.

“I fully share the indignation of the aggrieved customers of Toplofikacia Sofia EAD with the fact that the heat supply service was cut on one of the coldest days this winter, when the air temperatures in the said districts were below the zero. It is important to keep in mind that the large-scale breakdown of the heat piping affects kindergartens, schools, hospitals and clinics. Concern is also raised in claims of citizens in the social media that buildings in the residential areas Mladost-2 and Mladost-3 remained cut off; however, they are not listed as hit by the breakdowns on the website of Toplofikacia Sofia EAD,” the Secretary General of the Ombudsman Dr. Aysun Avdjiev writes.

He emphasizes that he is concerned with the official announcement of the Sofia District Heating Company about the breakdown of the main pipeline, published today – 10 February 2025, on the company’s website. “The heating pipeline was built in the 1980s and its operational life is over.” In the opinion of the Secretary General this leads to the conclusion that the cause of the breakdown is the wear and tear for which the company is to be held responsible.

“Given the extraordinary difficulties faced by customers during the severe cold spell of whether, I am writing to you to make a proposal to assess and pay fair compensations to the thousands of households left without central heating and hot running water because of the breakdown of a supplying pipeline of the main stem of the Stoudentski Grad , in the yard of the Sveta Anna Regional Hospital,” Dr. Avdjiev states firmly.

In his letter he emphasizes that Toplofikacia Sofia EAD is an important factor in ensuring the stability of the whole energy system of Bulgaria in the autumn-winter season, given its significant generating capacity – over 3,000 thermal MW and over 280 electric MW, and the huge number of customers who, according to public information, are over 1 million residents of the capital city.

“I avail of this opportunity to draw attention to the fact that the General Terms and Conditions approved by the EWRC for the sale of heat for domestic needs by district heating companies allow unplanned shutdowns of heat supply without a compensation for the customer for a period of up to 48 hours, while for electricity supplies, for instance, the length of this period is 24 hours. I consider it fair for customers of district heating services to reduce the permitted period of unplanned shutdown without compensation due to 24 hours. This will create a direct financial incentive for district heating companies to invest preventively in improvements of the heat piping, in order to reduce emergency shutdowns of heat energy supplies. Also, it is important to regulate the permissible incidence of short unplanned shutdowns of heat supply to one address, for which the relevant district heating company will not owe penalties,” Dr. Aysun Avdjiev writes further.

In conclusion, he points out that it is important to put in place a system to report objectively the number and duration of unplanned shutdowns of heat supply that would be monitored by the regulating authority.