Power outages have become a regular experience as of late. There were at least four in the centre of Sofia last week, which inevitably brings up the question: why is this happening and is it possible that these power outages be announced in advance so that people and companies can arrange their activities in order to avoid any damages?
The Sofia Echo contacted the press office of Elektrorazpredelenie Stolichno (Sofia Electricity Company) (ES), which was recently sold to the Czech CEZ Group.
The press officer of the company, Emilia Vikyova, said that the power outages were because of maintenance or network repairs. She could not say if the company had a general plan for maintenance, for example, for the summer period.
Vikyova said that what ES had to do in legal terms was to warn its customers in advance. However, she said that they use only two newspapers – the dailies Telegraf and Monitor –, which, everyone would agree, are not the most widely-read newspapers in Bulgaria.
Another interesting fact is that ES can publish information about the power cuts only a week before the occurrence, and the information need only be published on Saturday.
So, if anyone wants to know when the next power cut would happen, if there be one, he or she must read the Saturday editions of these two newspapers. Not a very useful way of knowing when the electricity would go out, one might say, and he would be wrong. Because ES said that there were other ways of announcing the power cuts.
For those familiar with the internet, a useful way is the web page of the company (http://www.electro-sof.com/). A basic knowledge of Bulgarian language is required because the page does not support an English version.
All you need to do is add to your favourites list the web address of Elektrorazpredelenie Stolichno. Alluring idea indeed.
However, ES does a little bit more. The press officer said that if you are a big company, you would receive a notification letter in advance. For the rest of the world, the option is to look for announcements pasted on the doors of your residential or office building. Here again, Bulgarian language is a must.
After being warned of the coming power outage, you still need a little bit of gambling because all ES does is announce the day of the cut. It does not indicate the hour or whether it is going to be in the morning or in the afternoon.
Vikyova explained that all ES can do is say that somewhere within the eight hours of the working day, there will be a power cut.
The reason is that no one can tell in advance how long a repair could go on.
“Sometimes it takes 30 minutes, some times it takes longer,” Vikyova said.
Stopped work often means losses and damages. So what happens if your computers break down because of a sudden, unexpected power cut?
“If computers or any other equipment break down because of a power cut, you must file a report about it, which must describe the exact damages and the reason. You must send this report within three days to the electric company and our experts will visit you to estimate the damages and, as happens very often, the money will be restored,” Vikyova said.
The Sofia Echo also spoke to Iveta Minkova, chief expert at the Bulgarian Consumers Association. According to Minkova, all ES was required to do in terms of the law was to issue a statement in one or more of the dailies. As mentioned above, ES is complying. Whether Telegraf and Monitor are the best choices is another issue, Minkova said.
“The principle ES follows in this case is hear no evil see no evil, which is not enough for the consumers,” she said.
However, this is what the law requires and there is nothing to be done in making ES more proactive in announcing when the power cuts will take place.
An interesting thing to know is that business subscribers of electricity distributors in Sofia city, Sofia region and the northern town of Pleven, all majority owned by CEZ, will be required to pay guarantees if they have overdue electricity bills three times a year under the new terms and conditions for providing power service to business customers.
All new subscribers will be required to put up a 12-month guarantee and if they are bona fide payers, the power distributors will return the money. The guarantee amount will be the sum equivalent to 300 hours of monthly electricity consumption.
Under the new terms, power distributors will cut the power supply to business consumers having default payment of power bills and will seek damage for the delayed payment. The indemnity for the delayed payment will be double the amount of the overdue sum.
