Gas supplies settlement in units of energy starts in August
The Regulation of the Minister of Economy dated 28 June 2013 on the detailed rules of designing and calculating tariffs and settlements in trading in gaseous fuels implemented into Polish law the provisions of the so called third energy package, including those on units that will be used for settlements in the gas system.
In line with the transitional provisions of the tariff regulation, the obligation to make settlements in units of energy [kWh] instead of units of volume [m3] used so far, was postponed until 1 August 2014 in order to allow companies to prepare themselves for the application of new rules and to launch information campaigns among customers.
Therefore, on 13 June 2014, the President of the Energy Regulatory Office approved the amendment to the tariff of Polish Oil and Gas Company SA (Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo SA, PGNiG SA) that allows for making settlements for gaseous fuels supplied to customers in units of energy (kWh) starting 1 August 2014.
PGNiG will start making settlements of gas supplies in units of energy this August. The new settlement rules will not substantially affect the fees for gaseous fuels supply charged from customers. The prices for gaseous fuels have been converted from values expressed in m3 into kWh according to the heat of combustion assumed for determining prices in units of volume..Subscription fees, on the other hand, remain unchanged. Any changes in fees that may occur will result from the differences in the heat of combustion in particular points of the gas network and rounding resulting from conversion. According to the estimates they should not exceed ±1 per cent.
After the introduction of new rules, all customers will be billed for the amount of energy used and not for the volume used. Gas prices expressed in units of energy will make the comparison of gas prices with prices of other energy carriers easier. The detailed information on the amount of natural gas consumed expressed in units of volume (m3) and in units of energy (kWh), as well as information about the basis for converting the consumed volume into energy used (the so called conversion rate) will be indicated in the invoice. The detailed rules for making settlements in units of energy, including the detailed rules of translating the consumption of gaseous fuels from m3 into kWh, are stated in Part B of the Tariff.
Consequently, invoices received by gas customers, will include the following three values:
- the quantity of gas consumed expressed in units of volume (m3);
- the so called conversion rate used to convert units of volume into units of energy;
- and the quantity of gas expressed in units of energy (kWh).
The change in the settlement rules introduced by the aforesaid Regulation of the Minister of Economy (Journal of Laws of 2013, item 820) does not entail the replacement of gas meters.
According to PGNiG’s statement, the change in the Tariff shall be introduced on 1 July 2014 and will be binding until 31 December 2014.
The tariff approving decision has been published in Biuletyn Branżowy URE - Paliwa gazowe (URE Professional Bulletin - Gaseous fuels) of 16 June 2014 and is available in Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej (Public Information Bulletin) of the Energy Regulatory Office.