Bulgaria's energy regulator has set the price of natural gas for October at 44.09 euros per megawatt hour, before grid fees, excise duty and VAT. That's 5.99% higher than September's price of 41.60 euros, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) said.
State gas supplier Bulgargaz will sell gas at this price to end suppliers and to licensed heat producers and distributors.
On the same day, Bulgargaz put in a revised request for 44.41 euros per megawatt hour, 0.33 euros more, but the commission said no.
"The energy regulator will not allow a further rise in the price of natural gas for October, because that is unacceptable," said EWRC chairman Plamen Mladenovski.
He said the market looks set for a rough winter, so from October the price should not go above the level first requested and must stay as low as possible for consumers. Gas makes up more than 70% of the final price of heating for households, so any sharp jump hits families directly.
A day earlier, at a public hearing, Lyudmila Vitanova, Bulgargaz's head of prices, market analysis and pricing, had made the case for a higher price, pointing to rising fuel costs on international markets. At that hearing, Mladenovski asked the company not to push for an increase and warned the regulator would not approve a higher price.
October's price is a mix of gas under the long-term contract with Azerbaijan, liquefied gas bought from traders after a tender, and a small amount drawn from the Chiren storage facility.
The approved price covers the cost of gas entering the transmission network, the "public supply" charge set out in Article 17(7) of Ordinance No. 2 of March 19, 2013 on natural gas pricing, and the charge under Article 11a(2) of the same ordinance, which covers Bulgargaz's costs for storing gas at Chiren under the emergency response plan.