The Far East is burned for coal – Newspaper Kommersant No. 47 (7492) of 03/21/2023

The wholesale price of electricity in the Far East at the beginning of the year approached the average prices in the rest of the country for the first time. In January, it increased almost one and a half times month on month – up to 2.8 rubles. for 1 kWh. Tariffs have risen sharply as the government has allowed them to include compensation for losses incurred by the region’s thermal power plants from coal purchases in previous years. Local business wants to complain to the prosecutor’s office. However, in RusHydro, which received losses of 35 billion rubles. in 2022, argues that even with the new prices, work in the region will not become profitable.

Wholesale prices for electricity for commercial consumers (except for the population) in the Far East increased by one and a half times. The average one-part price (the cost of electricity and capacity) in January 2023 compared to December 2022 increased by 49%, to 2.84 rubles. per 1 kWh, follows from IPEM calculations based on the data of power supply companies. For comparison: in January, the average single-rate price in the European part of the Russian Federation and the Urals was 2.74 rubles, and in Siberia – 2.43 rubles.

The largest increase in the wholesale price occurred in Yakutia: in January it jumped by 50.4% to 2.9 rubles, says Alexei Faddeev from IPEM. In the Amur region, the price was 2.88 rubles. (an increase of 49.7%), in the Khabarovsk Territory – 2.84 rubles. (48.8%), in Primorsky Krai – 2.81 rubles. (47.6%), in the Jewish Autonomous Region – 2.78 rubles. (50.1%).

In the Far East, electricity and capacity prices for each TPP are regulated by the state. RusHydro has been complaining about low tariffs in the region for many years and has achieved the inclusion in prices of compensation for TPP losses from coal purchases since 2011. When setting tariffs for 2023, “compensation was provided for shortfalls in income due to the increase in the cost of coal in connection with the adopted changes in the legislation,” the FAS explained to Kommersant.

Small and medium-sized businesses were not ready for a sharp increase in tariffs, Kommersant’s interlocutors in the region say: prices rose first in December due to the indexation of network tariffs, and then in January due to an increase in the price of electricity and capacity. Thus, Boris Beloborodov, chairman of the Amur branch of the All-Russian Public Organization of Small and Medium Enterprises, told Kommersant that the business is preparing an appeal to the prosecutor’s office. According to the organization, in January 2023, the final tariff in the Amur Region, including VAT, increased by almost 15% mom, to 8.91 rubles. The FAS reminds that tariffs for transmission services and sales allowances are set by regional regulators.

RusHydro notes that the average tariff in the energy system of the East is 5 rubles. per 1 kWh, which is 27% lower than in the European part of the Russian Federation and in Siberia (6.9 rubles). The established tariffs for the Far East Generating Company (DGK, part of RusHydro), the state holding says, include, among other things, reasonable expenses for fuel and repairs. “But even with the established tariffs, DGK will not break even in 2023,” RusHydro claims. “In previous years, due to economically unjustified tariffs, DGK also suffered huge losses, essentially subsidizing fuel suppliers and consumers. The loss of DGK only in 2022 exceeded 35 billion rubles.”

This year, regulators want to gradually introduce market pricing for electricity in the Far East. However, even if it is not possible to restrain energy prices even under the conditions of regulation, then to force the transition to market pricing and release energy prices in non-price zones can be dangerous for the economy and especially detrimental to energy-intensive investment projects, the Energy Consumers Community warns. The technological basis for the development of competition and the formation of optimal energy prices in the region has not yet been created, the association believes.

Given the rising cost of coal and fuel oil, the increase in electricity prices in the region was quite expected, says Sergey Sasim from the Institute for Economics and Regulation of Infrastructure Industries of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. The impact on prices of the phased launch of the energy market in the region is still difficult to assess: competition should stimulate the withdrawal of expensive generation, but at the same time, the transition of HPPs to the pricing regime may increase the average price. At the same time, Sergey Sasim is confident that a significant price increase will be ruled out at the level of the formation of market rules.

Polina Smertina; Anna Yashina, Blagoveshchensk