Energy authority to approve new regulations regarding gas supply and use

The project designed for the regulations concerning the supply and usage of natural gas stipulates a series of new provisions that especially aim at the protection of consumers’ rights. The project worked out by the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) establishes the rules of purchasing gas, of adjusting the installation of consumer’s utilization to the gas network, procedures intended for disconnection, cessation, stoppage and limitation of natural gas supply, for registration and their payment, technical and organizational provisions for the functioning of the natural gas installations, relations between supplier, distribution unit and consumer as regards the adjustment to the gas network, receive of gas, supply and payment of natural gas, as well as their utilization by the consumers. The document consists of two separated parts that reflect the rights and obligations of the sides, procedures of settling litigation between the parties. The new normative document also includes the framework-contracts for gas supply to domestic and non-domestic consumers, typified forms of applications and notifications of adjustment to the natural gas networks and other strictly necessary documents for the natural gas market’s participants. ANRE invoked as reason for working out the project the necessity of adjusting the present regulation framework to the new situation of the natural gas sector and to European standards in the field, which will allow solving many problems that the gas consumers and suppliers confront at present. The project is a new version of the present regulations regarding the gas supply and utilization approved by ANRE in March 2002. The Agency finalized last week public consultations on the new project of the regulations, a procedure that took several months. The document is to be forwarded to the state Commission for the regulation of the activity of enterpriser, then it will be examined and approved by the ANRE Administrative Board at a public session.