12/20/2007

Prices of heat from United Energy are reasonable and law compliant

The prices charged for heat by United Energy to its customers are in full compliance with the price law. This is the conclusion reached by the State Energy Inspection, which carried out a price control initiated by Mostecká uhelná in United Energy, the operator of the Komořany heating plant. The State Energy Inspection stated that United Energy did not violate price provisions made by the Price Act.

In February, Mostecká uhelná (MUS) filed a complaint about heat prices charged by United Energy to its customers. The State Energy Inspection then started a price control in United Energy to check compliance with Act No. 526/1990 on prices.

The State Inspection confirmed that United Energy’s heat pricing fully complies with the binding decision on prices taken by the Energy Regulatory Office and that it only includes economically justified costs, reasonable profit and value-added tax in its prices of heat for customers.

“Based on the complaint filed against us by Mostecká uhelná, the independent state inspection proved both to our customers and to the general public that United Energy’s prices of heat are reasonable and correspond to our costs,” said Petr Jeník, United Energy CEO. “At the same time, one of our highest expenditure items is the cost of coal supplied by Mostecká uhelná, which has been trying to significantly increase the price of its coal, thus increasing our cost of heat generation,” said Jeník.

United Energy is currently in disagreement with MUS about the price of lignite and the volume of its supplies. In 2007, Mostecká uhelná unilaterally reduced the volume of its coal deliveries for United Energy, cutting them down to 50 % of the actual need, and has been threatening with further cuts in its deliveries. Due to a 27% increase in the price of coal, United Energy is forced to increase the price of heat supplied to Most and Litvínov from its Komořany heating plant by 9.5 per cent in 2008.

United Energy operates a power source in Komořany, using environmentally-friendly combined heat and power generation, co-generation, with a total installed electrical capacity of 239 MWe and a thermal power of 974 MWt. It supplies heat (heating, hot water) to almost 35,000 flats in Most and Litvínov, as well as to industrial plants, schools, healthcare facilities, offices and institutions. United Energy, právní nástupce, a.s. is part of the consolidated whole of the J&T Group.

author: Martin Maňák - ředitel komunikace pro oblast energetiky