Citizens received electricity bills worth an average salary?!
Many citizens complain about their electricity bills, but EVN says they have had fewer complaints than last year. They claim that they read their electricity meters every month, although they are obliged to do so 4 times. Experts, however, remind that the main problem is that no solution has been found for heating the population, so they are heated with electricity.
Our editorial office has received complaints from several citizens about high electricity bills. Citizens are also complaining on social networks. They say they have received invoices with unreasonably high amounts. EVN confirms that fewer complaints have reached them, but they say that they are fewer than in the same period a year ago. According to EVN, meter readings are performed every month, except in certain exceptional cases.
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Our reader says that her last bill was 8.200 denars, even though there are only two of them, in a 40 square meter apartment.
– I heat with an inverter that is not turned on for half the day, when we are not at work. We do not cook every day. Only my daughter and I live in the apartment. We often do not even cook. How can I then receive a bill of 8.200 denars. My previous one was 7.500. I do not believe that I spent that much. Either something is wrong with the electricity meters or with the reading – reacts Beti from Gjorce Petrov.
On social networks, they share bills for 12.000 denars and claim that they have never received such bills before. In the comments, one of our fellow citizens wrote that from 7.000 denars, her bill jumped to 16.000. There are also those who claim that their salaries are around twenty thousand denars, although they claim that they are not living in luxury. They say that now they have to pay their entire salary for electricity! Citizens also suspect that the electricity they consumed in December was charged at the higher January bill. However, anyone can check their invoice, and the invoice includes kilowatts that were charged at the old price until December 31, as well as kilowatts from January that were charged at the new price.
If citizens believe they have been overcharged, they have the right to complain.
– EVN Home, nationwide, received 1.385 requests for invoice correction in January 2025 and 898 requests in December 2024. Last year, in the same period (January 2024), the company received 1.857 requests for invoice correction and 923 requests in December 2023. On average, in 01/2025 and 12/2024 there were about 18 percent fewer requests for invoice corrections compared to 01/2024 and 12/2023 – EVN told "Sloboden Pechat".
However, we did not receive an answer to the question of how the days in December differed from those in January, given that there was a slight increase in electricity prices from January 1. Namely, the average price of electricity for households increased by 1 percent from January 0,92. In the first block, the increase was 0,68 percent, in the second by 0,9 percent, in the third by 1,93 percent, in the fourth by 2,24 percent, and the cheap tariff became more expensive by 0,9 percent, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) announced.
Some of the citizens who share the high prices react that the reading period for them was longer than a month, and amounted to 35 days. EVN explained that the meter reading is done every month by the teams of the Electricity Distribution Company, despite the fact that the Energy Law, the Network Rules and the Supply Rules stipulate that the meter reading should be done four times a year.
– Deviation from the company's internal rule for reading the meters every month can only occur for the following reasons: the user is absent (not at home or in the facility), due to the prevention of the reading teams, annual holidays, etc. and then a presumed invoice is prepared. The presumed invoice does not automatically mean a higher electricity invoice. It may also contain lower presumed values – say EVN.
Citizens can also make their own reports and report the situation. However, as EVN says, according to their internal statistics, users often do not need to use the service for self-reporting online consumption situations.
No solution found for the heating
Experts point out that the main problem of those who receive bills over 10.000 denars is that they are actually heated by electricity and that they live in energy-inefficient buildings. Gasification has been talked about for decades, but it has remained just a wish. Implementing energy efficiency requires money.
– In Western Europe, there are old buildings that have managed to achieve energy savings of 90 percent, meaning they have reached the point of being passive buildings. In Macedonia, there are also examples of energy savings of up to 70 percent. There is a whole science to how this is achieved. It is normal that this requires investment, and our standard is low and citizens immediately give up. But there should be an energy efficiency fund, through which certain incentives will be offered, payment in installments or granting grants – says Katerina Petrushevska from the Association of Licensed Energy Controllers.
