Power distribution utility E.ON Bulgaria will double spending on grid upgrades and maintenance to 100 million leva this year, company director Manfred Paasch told journalists on March 6, as quoted by Dnevnik daily. Last year, the company invested 51 million leva.

The announcement comes a month after E.ON had pledged 60 million leva in investments, 49.5 million leva of which would be for key projects and grid upgrades and the remainder for repairs of the power grid.

Paasch said, however, that the size of investments depended on whether the State Energy and Water Regulation Commission (SEWRC) gave a green light to the 10.9 per cent hike of electricity fees the company requested a week earlier.

E.ON wants household fees to go up by 10.1 per cent, the business fees for low-voltage electricity by 10.46 per cent and the business fees for medium voltage by 15.74 per cent.

The energy and water watchdog is expected to come up with a decision by June 2008. If endorsed, the new electricity prices will take effect as of July 1 this year, and would be valid through June 30 2009.

The electricity hike proposal does not take into account the electricity producer prices, but does introduce a new price component, Paasch said. This is the price for access to the electricity grid, which would be valid only for consumers to have hooked up to the company's sub-stations directly, circumventing the medium-voltage grid.