News

27 February 2023

Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva sent a letter to Acting Minister of Energy Rosen Hristov, recommending that household customers of district heating companies in condominium buildings receive financial support from European Union funds. The reason is that until 1 January 2027, about 572,000 households have to upgrade the heating and domestic hot water supply installations in their homes with devices for shared heat distribution with remote metering.

The requirement to switch to remote metering is under an EU regulation, which Bulgaria is obliged to comply with.  

Prof. Kovacheva draws attention to the fact that there are about 1.276 million radiator distributors and 660,000 hot water meters, and nearly 93% of these devices are owned by household customers and their replacement will be entirely at their expense.  

“According to some estimates, switching from visually measured to remotely measured data will cost household consumers over BGN 100 million for the period 2021-2026”, says Diana Kovacheva.

She also adds that the devices for sharing heat distribution for remote metering are more complex and more expensive than conventional devices and the cost increase is less for radiator distributors and significantly higher for hot water meters. 

She also gives an example that the prices of remote water meters start at around BGN 100 per piece and are approximately twice as high as conventional water meters. And the approximate price of the radio module for a hot water meter is about BGN 50. These figures give an estimate of ​​the increase in the price of a single device related to the legal requirements.

“Currently, heat-supplied homes are in a period of phased expiration of the warranty periods of the heat energy radiator distributors. According to Article 140, paragraph 7 of the Energy Act, when installing new devices for shared distribution, they must be with remote metering. The upgrade is already underway, with the largest number of devices due to be replaced in 2024, according to data from distribution dealers,” the public defender also writes.

Therefore, Diana Kovacheva proposes to the acting minister that a measure be developed for financial support of household customers of district heating companies in condominium buildings for the mandatory upgrade of the installations in their homes with devices with remote metering of heat energy consumption. 

”I believe that, taking into account the public importance of the problem, it is appropriate to seek funds from European funds, including the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria”, Prof. Kovacheva is categorical.

She points out that depending on the amount of financial resources to be allocated, different principles can be applied to fairly support households that have a legal obligation to purchase remote metering devices, including radio modules for remote water metering. 

“For example, I find it appropriate for the financial compensation to be in: (1) the amount of a certain portion (%) of the total cost that each residential customer of a heat transmission company makes for the upgrade of their property with devices for shared heat energy distribution with remote metering, and/or (2) the full amount for citizens who are entitled to social assistance under Article 2, paragraph 3 of the Social Assistance Act,” suggests the Ombudsman.

She notes that support may also be provided through shared-distribution dealers for all their household customers who meet the requirement of § 75 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Act amending and supplementing the Energy Efficiency Act, regardless of when the upgrade takes place.

In conclusion, she emphasizes that the heat energy shared distribution system is a major tool for energy saving in homes with central heating in condominium  buildings. 

The Ombudsman draws attention to the fact that when all devices for shared heat distribution are measured remotely, billing will be monthly on the actual consumption of heat. Thus, the whole range of problems related to ensuring physical access to citizens' homes for visual reporting of the meters, the preparation of annual balancing accounts, their claims and late adjustments of bills will be solved.

“Remote metering devices provide digital information on individual heat consumption, which could then be quickly and conveniently accessed electronically by household customers. The technical capacity is now in place to provide households with timely data on their actual energy costs so that they can successfully monitor, control and manage their heat consumption,” the Ombudsman concludes.