The Eastern polygon accelerates kilowatts – Newspaper Kommersant No. 223 (7424) of 12/01/2022
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As Kommersant found out, the government recommended that the Irkutsk and Kemerovo regions increase network tariffs for businesses above the 9% limit. Indexation is needed to finance the construction of energy infrastructure for the Eastern test site. Kuzbass decided to raise tariffs by 14% from December 1, and in the Irkutsk region, according to Kommersant’s information, no decisions have yet been made. Industry strongly opposes it, considering it unfair to build a federal project by increasing the burden on the business of nearby regions.
The Irkutsk and Kemerovo regions were recommended to increase electricity transmission tariffs above the federal ceiling of 9% in order to finance the construction of energy facilities to supply the Eastern Polygon. The instruction was given to local authorities at a joint meeting of the government commission on transport and the commission of the State Council on Energy, chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov (“Kommersant” saw the protocol of October 7). The due date is December 30, 2022. We are talking only about tariffs for industry and small and medium-sized businesses.
So far, only the authorities of Kuzbass have listened to the advice of the government commission. The local tariff authority told Kommersant that “in accordance with the recommendations of the government commission,” they decided to raise tariffs by 5 percentage points above the maximum level from December 1.
The FAS noted that the decision “will allow, in the planned volume, to implement the investment program for the development of energy supply to the Eastern test site.” The changes will not affect tariffs for the population, emphasize the FAS.
The FAS added that the regional tariff authority of the Irkutsk region did not apply to them for approval of exceeding the limit levels. The government of the region told Kommersant that “the information will be published on the website of the tariff service,” without specifying the date and time of publication. The Irkutsk Electric Grid Company did not comment. The FAS reminded that tariff indexation is not planned for 2023.
“Implementing a federal-scale project by increasing the tariff burden on consumers in certain nearby regions is unfair and wrong,” they say in the Community of Energy Consumers. “When determining funding sources, it is advisable to focus on beneficiaries, including the budget system.”
The association warns that a jump in regional tariffs will hit the energy-intensive industry that forms the basis of the economy of these territories, the negative socio-economic consequences of such a step are clearly underestimated.
In the Kemerovo region, from July to November 2022, the one-part transmission tariff for consumers at medium voltage of the second category was 2.13 rubles. for 1 kWh, at low voltage – 3.7 rubles, notes the founder of TIME2SAVE Ilya Toropyno. In the Irkutsk region for this period, a single-rate tariff for consumers at medium voltage is 1.21 rubles. for 1 kWh, at low – 1.6 rubles.
Exceeding the limit levels during the indexation of tariffs occurred in many subjects of the Russian Federation, Sergey Sasim from the Institute of Economics and Regulation of Infrastructure Sectors of the National Research University Higher School of Economics noted. For example, in the Tambov region, the growth will be 11.5%, and in Mari El and Udmurtia – 15%, he notes. The main reason, in his opinion, is the long break until the next indexation in 2024 and the desire of the subjects to ensure reliable financing of critical infrastructure in a difficult economic reality. The economy is stagnating, the expenses of companies are increasing against the backdrop of high inflation, and large construction projects, in particular the energy supply of the Eastern Test Site, require large-scale investments in infrastructure development, Sergey Sasim states. As we see, it is not possible to ensure such a development with indexation of tariffs even by 9% (which is lower than the actual level of inflation), as we see, the expert notes.
When calculating tariffs for 2023, the regions were given the right to increase the amount of cross-subsidization (additional payment by businesses for reduced household tariffs) by the amount of inflation and changes in the productive supply of electricity to the population, says Mr. Sasim. Thus, the maximum tariff levels were exceeded due to another increase in cross-subsidization, the official volume of which was fixed at the level of 241 billion rubles.
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