Competitive power selection for industry may rise in price by 15%
According to Kommersant, the Government of the Russian Federation additionally indexes at 15% of the price of power for industrial electricity consumers for 2025–2026. At the same time, accelerated differentiation of power payment depending on the efficiency of equipment will come into force. According to analysts, the load on the market will grow by 39 billion rubles. and 64 billion rubles. Accordingly, the differentiation will reduce the effect of indexing by halves.
Prices for the capacity set for 2025 and 2026 can be additionally indexed by 15%, follows from the draft Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation (Kommersant saw a document). At the same time in 2025, the differentiation of power payment will enter into force. The draft resolution has already been submitted to the government. “Kommersant” turned to the Ministry of Energy for a comment.
Payment of capacity is a mandatory payment of industrial consumers for conditional costs of generating companies. The cost of competitive power selection (COM) is annually indexed to the consumer price index (IPC). But in recent years, the manufacturers price index (ICP) has been higher than consumer inflation due to growth in energy prices, including an unscheduled additional indexation of gas prices by 10% for industrial consumers from December 1, 2023.
The introduction of a differentiated payment for power for all power plants, depending on their demand, has been discussed for a long time. In 2021, the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, in a letter to Vladimir Putin, asked to develop a “mechanism for stimulating manufacturers to withdraw ineffective generation by introducing the differentiation of power payment depending on the degree of loading.” The launch of the mechanism was previously planned for 2027.
In the “Market Council” (energy regulator) explained “Kommersant” that during differentiation for the TPP, the volume of the delivered power on demand is introduced: for the low -voltage generation, the fact of delivery is reduced, which reduces consumer payments.
According to the regulator, earlier the Government of the Russian Federation approved the indexation of the price of a com for 2027 due to a pre-tall of growth of the conditional costs of suppliers, and the new draft resolution will extend this decision to the remaining months of 2025 and 2026.
The “Energy Consumer Community”, referring to the calculations of the “Market Council”, indicates that the indexation of the price of a com in 2025–2026 by 15–20% in excess of the already carried out indexation through the IPC will increase the economy of the economy by 63–84 billion rubles. per year. “We believe that taking into account the growth in the growth capacity of fuel costs already taken into account in the price of electricity is methodologically erroneous, leads to an unreasonable increase in the cost of the economy for energy supply,” the Vice-Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in a letter from the association. The “Market Council” was informed “Kommersant” that the increase in consumer payments will be less.
The Council of Energy Manufacturers told Kommersant that in 2021–2024, manufacturers and wages price indices increased by 59.8% and 71.3%, respectively. Inflation was 42.7%, so indexation is necessary for partial compensation for the accumulated lag. “This will allow generating companies to ensure the operation and repair of equipment, and the power differentiation mechanism from 2025 will reduce the revenue from the sale of power and reduce the effect of indexing the price of power by 2025–2026,” the association notes.
Previously, the price of a com for 2025 for the first price zone (European part of Russia and the Urals) was determined at 193.15 thousand rubles. for 1 MW per month, for the second price zone (Siberia) – 303.19 thousand rubles. for 1 MW per month. In 2026, in the first price zone, suppliers will receive 194.9 thousand rubles. for 1 MW per month, in the second – 299.35 thousand rubles. for 1 MW per month.
According to the director of the Center for Research in the Electric power industry of the Higher School of Economics, Sergei Sasima, an additional increase in payments for power in both price zones in 2025 will amount to about 39 billion rubles, and in 2026 will increase by 64 billion rubles.
And the early introduction of the principle of payment of power, differentiated by the degree of loading, according to him, will reduce the effect of additional indexation of the price of a lump of lumps by about half. The final effect of indexation, according to its calculations, will additionally increase the price of power in the first price zone by 2.5%, in the second price zone – by 6%.
From 2021 to 2024, the gap was formed between the indicators of the IPC and the ICP due to changes in the price and economic situation, Mr. Sasim points out, but the unbalancing in itself is not a prerequisite for an immediate increase in the price of com. “It makes sense to consider the application in the process of calculating the prices of the composite index, taking into account the use of the price growth factor for resources (material, labor and others), changes in the actual wage conditions and changes in prices for goods and services subject to state regulation,” the expert believes.
