Nikšić's Energy Killing of the Federation of BiH: Two Public Companies, EP BiH and EP HZHB, Have Different Price Lists for the Same Services

Written by: doc.dr.sc.iur Nermin Alihodžić

When High Representative Christian Schmidt, by suspending the Constitution of the FBiH for twenty-four hours, nullified the Bosniak vote and thus imposed the troika, no one could have even suspected what this and such a government would bring in the future.

From the mistake of bringing Dodik into power at the state level, which results in the greatest constitutional crisis in the country since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the catastrophic reaction of the Federation Government to the floods that hit parts of the Federation at the beginning of October last year, through the remediation of a section of the railway near Komadinovo Vrelo in Donja Jablanica and the shame of Nikšić, who needed almost four months to restore it, and that not from our funds but from a donation by the Turkish company Cengiz Insaat, to the hasty decision on non-working Sundays in stores.

To this should be added the decision to raise the minimum wage in the FBiH to the amount of 1,000 KM, which was made without any prior analyses, consultations with experts, or predictions of possible negative consequences for the economy by making such a hasty decision. Let's be clear, even a salary of 1,000 KM is small if we consider prices and living costs in BiH, but this measure should have been adopted after detailed analyses, studies, and respecting the voice of the profession first and foremost. And the profession says that in parallel with this measure, contributions should also be reduced and a differentiated tax rate introduced, which means less money in the coffers for Nikšić.

But there are also those examples that somehow fly under the radar, what is less visible, but what citizens and businesses of the FBiH feel well in their wallets, and not all equally. The consequence is the economic killing of the Federation.

Namely, the Government of the Federation of BiH is the owner of both JP Elektroprivreda BiH and Elektroprivreda HZHB Mostar, but the Federation Government apparently does not have the same prices for the same services in these two companies!

If we do only a partial analysis and compare the Price List of services of these two companies, we will notice, for example, that for issuing an energy approval for an end customer on the LV network, the price is 58.50 KM and on the MV network 93.60 KM if you submitted this request to EP HZHB Mostar, while for the same service at EP BiH you pay 73.70 KM on the LV network and 187.20 KM on the MV network. In EP HZHB, this service is the same for both producers and customers, but for producers in JP EP BiH, this service amounts to as much as 275 KM including VAT.

If you are disconnected as a customer due to, e.g., an unpaid bill for consumed electricity at EP HZHB during working hours, you will pay for reconnection 40 KM if the disconnection was at the metering point, and 117 KM if the disconnection was at the connection point (pole, roof mount).

However, at EP BiH on this basis, if the disconnection is at the metering point during working hours, you will be charged 76 KM for reconnection, and 140.40 KM for reconnection if the disconnection was at the connection point (pole, roof mount).

Even more interesting is the situation regarding the construction of facilities for the production of electricity from renewable sources. Lately, we hear big stories about the energy transition and the international commitments our country has undertaken on this issue, but we cannot escape the impression that there is a targeted obstruction by the management of EP BiH on this matter.

The construction of solar facilities is going very well in the part covered by EP HZHB Mostar, while in the part covered by EP BiH, we can freely say it is nowhere! Whether this is the amateurish approach of SDP's General Director Sanel Buljubašić or whether it is classic party cronyism and the appointment of incompetent but loyal cadres by the imposed Nermin Nikšić to the helm of public companies, time will tell? Or perhaps a targeted weakening of this company?

Because what conclusion can we draw from the facts that if you decide to invest in the construction of a solar power plant, in addition to the already existing huge administrative barriers faced by current investors connecting to the distribution network of EP BiH, which includes a three to four-year duration of the connection procedure even for micro production facilities, one of the key facts is that EP BiH last year collected from its customers through electricity bills, which we all receive regularly, four times more funds regarding the fee for renewable energy sources compared to EP HZHB, while at the same time, investors connected to EP BiH based on incentive purchase prices for electricity were paid even five times less of those funds compared to investors connected to the distribution network of EP HZHB.

That the management of EP BiH does not lack imagination and creativity on how to hinder the energy transition in the part of the Federation covered by this company is also evidenced by the prices of other services, which are probably designed to completely deter potential investors in renewable sources who want to connect to the distribution network of EP BiH, but to make the irony even greater, also prosumers.

Thus, for example, in addition to the preparation of the Optimal Technical Solution for the connection of producers, a payment for the absurd service of Preparation of the Optimal Technical Solution for the connection of prosumers has been introduced. In practice, this means that EP BiH charges for an already previously defined technical solution by which, in accordance with legal and by-laws, the connection of a renewable source prosumer is made to their own electrical installation with limited connection power corresponding to the connection power in the customer status!

Or the preparation of the Optimal Technical Solution for the connection of producers/prosumers up to 23 kW, i.e., micro-installations, which in practice is the largest number of prosumers from the "household" category, EP BiH charges as much as 420 KM, from 23-150 kW it charges 1,690 KM, and from 150-500 kW an incredible 5,512 KM.

On the other hand, in the case of EP HZHB, there is no service for the Preparation of the Optimal Technical Solution for the connection of prosumers, which means that households covered by this company in the status of micro-installations pay nothing on this basis.

If a producer of electricity from renewable sources wants, for example, to build a facility of 500 kW-1 MW, at EP BiH they will pay an astronomical 11,490 KM for the preparation of the Optimal Technical Solution for connection, while for the same power at EP HZHB they will pay 1,170 KM. Yes, you read that correctly. And there are plenty of such examples when it comes to the transition to renewable energy sources in the part of the Federation covered by EP BiH.

Why is this so? Is the troika government, due to its own incompetence or due to servile fulfillment of someone's tasks, economically decimating the Bosnian population and business entities in this way? If we remember the statement of the General Director of EP BiH that "the lighting in the corridors is being turned off," we can say it is about incompetence or ignorance. But if in recent days we listen to the Federal Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry Vedran Lakić, who like a parrot repeats gasification as a replacement for electricity, then it is likely that this government is on a mission to destroy its own electricity sector on someone's orders.