PRESS: Russia may ban direct connection to trunk power lines

MOSCOW, Dec 27 (PRIME) -- The Energy Ministry plans to forbid companies from connecting directly to the trunk electric power lines from 2024, which is expected to raise spending of new clients significantly, business daily Kommersant reported on Tuesday citing a bill and a statement by the Energy Consumers Union.

"From January 1, 2024, all new consumers will be obliged to connect to the Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy Systems (FGC UES) only via a local grid company of systemic importance,” the paper said. “The tariffs of the companies are usually several times higher than those of FGC UES, which is why, new clients’ transmission costs will grow significantly."

The FGC UES tariff will stand at 241,000 rubles per megawatt-hour per month in 2023, the newspaper said without providing estimates of the tariff rise.

The Energy Consumers Union said it opposed the changes, the ministry did not comment on the report.

(68.4487 rubles – U.S. $1)

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