The Moscow City Hall has achieved a special status for its electric grid company

As Kommersant found out, the Moscow mayor’s office was able to achieve special conditions for the consolidation of the capital’s electrical grid complex. The Russian government agreed to grant a special system-forming status with equal rights to two companies at once – the state holding Rosseti and the United Energy Company (UEC) owned by the mayor’s office. But the point has not been made: Rosseti insists on continuing the discussion in the government. In Moscow, such an exception is economically justified, analysts say. But Kommersant’s interlocutors fear that other regions will also want to receive special rights.

“Kommersant” managed to get acquainted with the latest version of the bill on the creation of backbone territorial network organizations (TGOs) in the regions, which is now in the government. The key change in the document concerns the specifics of the process of consolidation of network companies in Moscow. In all regions of the country, only one systemically important TSO will be elected to absorb small assets, but in the capital there may be two of them. An amendment will be made to the law “On the status of the capital of the Russian Federation”, according to which in Moscow “the operation of two systemically important TSOs is allowed within certain boundaries of the activity zones.”

There are two large TGOs operating in Moscow: Rosseti Moscow Region PJSC (controlled by the state company Rosseti) and United Energy Company JSC (UEC, owned by the Moscow City Property Department). Both companies act as “boiler holders” (collect money from consumers for transmitting electricity). UEC revenue in 2022 is 42.54 billion rubles, net profit is 13.15 billion rubles. The revenue of Rosseti Moscow Region PJSC in 2022 is 198.28 billion rubles, net profit is 11.4 billion rubles.

“Rosseti” in Moscow has significantly more conventional units of equipment, therefore, on a formal basis, they should receive system-forming status. But the situation did not suit the Moscow mayor’s office, since it affects the economic interests of the UEC: according to the bill, a company with systemically important status automatically becomes the only “boiler holder.”

As sources tell Kommersant, the discussion between the Moscow mayor’s office and the Ministry of Energy has lasted since 2022. Letters signed by the mayor of the capital Sergei Sobyanin requesting an exception for Moscow were sent to the government and regulatory authorities. In the spring of 2023, the government apparatus instructed the Ministry of Energy to “coordinate the draft law being developed” with the Moscow government (“Kommersant saw the document dated May 16”). As two Kommersant sources say, it was Sergei Sobyanin’s “amendment” that slowed down the introduction of the bill to the government and the State Duma.

The discussion is probably not over. Rosseti told Kommersant that they are participating in the development of changes to Federal Law 35 and “in accordance with the instructions of President Vladimir Putin, the bill is aimed at creating a single center of responsibility for the reliability of energy supply in each subject of the Russian Federation.” “We believe that any exceptions to the above concept require discussion at the site of the Russian government,” Rosseti emphasized. The Department of City Property of Moscow and the OEK did not answer Kommersant.

The main risk of adopting amendments in favor of Moscow is that other regions will also want to receive exceptions, Kommersant sources say. In particular, a similar situation could occur in St. Petersburg, where Rosseti and JSC LOESK, owned by the city authorities, operate. The Ministry of Energy did not answer Kommersant’s questions. The FAS only told Kommersant that it had sent the position to the Ministry of Energy. The service, according to Kommersant, supported the proposals of the Moscow mayor’s office.

In the case of the Moscow energy system, the presence of two system-forming TSOs is most justified from an economic point of view, says Sergei Sasim, director of the Center for Electric Power Research at the Higher School of Economics. According to his estimates, the potential positive effect from the introduction of two systemically important TSOs in the capital will be about 2.7 billion rubles. Mr. Sasim also does not expect an additional increase in tariffs in Moscow due to the introduction of two systemically important TSOs.

The bill radically changes relationships in the industry, and not for the better, the Consumer Community told Kommersant, commenting on the document as a whole. “The introduced bans and restrictions do not guarantee an increase in the quality and reliability of electricity supply, but at the same time they absolutely lead to an artificial increase in electricity tariffs,” they say. “The practice of the expensive “last mile” when connecting to networks is returning, and new mandatory costs for the maintenance of system-forming infrastructure appear. network organization even where it is not required.” Consumers also believe that large enterprises face the risk of dismembering unified technological complexes, and the entire region has the obligation to pay through the tariff the costs of networks that primarily serve one consumer.

Polina Smertina