Chairman of the Board of the Energy Regulatory Office in Kosovo, Ymer Fejzullahu, has announced that the new electricity tariffs, which are expected to be 14 percent more expensive, will come into force from April 1 of this year, until March 31 of the year 2024. 

"The new tariffs will enter into force on April 1, 2023 and will be in force until March 31, 2024. According to the consultative report that is not yet final, the proposal from the ERO staff is that the necessary increase to reflect the cost of the system to be around 14 percent", he noted. 

According to him, the request of KEDS was for a 55 percent increase. The Office of the Energy Regulator in Kosovo announced that it is considering an extraordinary request for an increase in electricity tariffs, made by the Kosovo Electricity Distribution Company - KEDS, last month. 

KEDS has justified the request for an increase in electricity tariffs with the increase in the price of imported electricity, as well as with the inability of the Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK) to produce the necessary electricity, especially during the winter season. 

"The lack of proper reflection endangers the financial position of KEDS, and at the same time it also endangers the security of electricity supply in the country". 

The Office of the Energy Regulator in Kosovo, on February 8 of this year, approved new electricity tariffs - more expensive for some - that will be valid until March 31, 2023. 

The tightening has affected only those consumers who spend over 800 kilowatts per hour, within a month. 

Kosovo has the capacity to produce about 800 megawatts of electricity per hour, while its needs, on winter days, reach up to 1,300 megawatts per hour. It imports this difference from abroad. 

According to the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO), Kosovo imported 1,311,461 megawatts of electricity last year. 

(Source: Monitor)