CEZ, ERE in a legal battle

TIRANA, Nov. 7 – While electricity distribution operator, CEZ Shperndarje has been fined a total of 714,000 Euros in two separate fines over power meter violations, a legal battle is being fought with Energy Regulatory Entity, ERE.
CEZ Shperndarje says it has appealed a decision by ERE obliging it to contract a third party on the verification of power meters, as unilateral and bringing extra costs.
CEZ Shperndarje says the sample contract approved by CEZ in July 2011 obliging it to contract a third party licensed by the Directorate General of Metrology is against the law and brings the company extra costs which ERE has not recognized yet.
The local power distributor claims the new verification costs are ten times higher than the current ones and will have a direct impact on electricity tariffs. CEZ Shperndarje says the case is already being examined in court.
Czech-owned distribution operator CEZ Shperndarje has applied for a 4.5 percent increase in electricity prices for 2012. State-owned KESH and the transmission system operator OSSH have also demanded price increases. Last December, Albania’s Energy Regulatory Agency (ERE) decided to keep electricity prices for 2011 unchanged, turning down requests by the three local operators who had wanted to increase power prices by an average of 12 percent.
CEZ Shp쳮darje, a subsidiary of ČEZ Group since 2009, owns and operates the entire 110kV distribution network in the country for a total length of 69,000 kilometers, serving around 1.1 million customers. In March 2009, CEZ signed a contract with the Albanian government after buying 76 percent of OSSH’s state-owned shares for 102 million Euros.