Firms and other non-household power users will get help right after the month in which prices caused them problems. Rumen Radev, head of the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria (AICB), told BTA that this was confirmed at a meeting at the Energy Ministry on Wednesday.
On Monday, employers and trade unions sent an open letter asking for an urgent meeting over rising electricity prices. They urged that compensation be paid on time, not late.
Earlier on this story: Employers and unions seek urgent talks with Radev over power prices
Employers' and trade union groups attended the meeting. They agreed to keep talking and to look for other ways to pay the compensation.
Employers are pushing for a lower threshold. At present the state covers up to 80% of the price above €180 per megawatt-hour, and firms pay the price up to that level. The aid is paid the following month. The threshold was originally €123.
Radev said that under the new model the money may fall short in the very months when power is dearest, because it covers the price above €180, not above €123. "When you are in the biggest trouble, with the highest prices, you may find you won't get enough help," he said.
"We began to see high electricity prices as early as August," Radev said. In October the price rose again, and the average monthly price on the power exchange reached €230 per megawatt-hour.
A new compensation model for all non-household users started in September. Under the caretaker cabinet, the price was averaged and aid was paid every month. In its latest decision, the Council of Ministers ruled that the price will be averaged over the whole period up to 30 June 2027, when the current energy price period ends.
In September the government also adopted a Programme to compensate electricity costs. It covers non-household end users and the operators of the transmission and distribution grids, for the power they use for technological costs. The scheme is automatic and switches on when electricity prices in South-East Europe swing sharply.
The programme runs from 1 September 2026 to the end of the same period. Calculations use the average price that the Bulgarian Independent Energy Exchange records in its day-ahead base segment over this time.
Radev said several compensation schemes run at the same time through the Electricity System Security Fund, and they draw on the same money. He believes the market for households is not opening up the way employers have repeatedly urged.
Support for households is sizeable, Radev said. District heating customers also get separate aid, which goes entirely as money to the district heating companies under so-called high-efficiency cogeneration.