Local authorities will set tariffs on public services under ANRE approved methodology

The local public authorities will be obliged to take into account the methodology approved by the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) when setting the tariffs on public services for supplying thermal energy, water, sewerage and water sanitation. The Parliament passed a bill in this respect on Tuesday December 12. The Parliament voted on December 1 the amendments to the Law on public housing services, which stipulated that local authorities can take into account the ANRE methodology. But this draft was remitted to the Parliament for re-examination by Moldovan President, who mentioned that the respective phrase could be interpreted ambiguously. MPs convened Tuesday a meeting where only the respective item has been debated. MP Valeriu Cosarciuc stated that this law was promoted by the present government that wants to redirect the responsibility of setting tariffs from the communist local councils to ANRE. The present legislation does not stipulate the obligation of local authorities to fix the tariffs according to the methodology approved by the national energy regulator ANRE, which in Government’s opinion leads to appearance of some divergences and conflicts of interests that negatively influence the approval of the tariffs in time, quality of the services provided and maintain a low level of payment raising.