Public Services Regulatory Commission Responds to Narek Karapetyan's Statement

The Public Services Regulatory Commission of the Republic of Armenia has responded to the statement made by Narek Karapetyan, chairman of the board of the "Electric Networks of Armenia" company, claiming that HETC proposed to reduce electricity tariffs, but the Commission rejected the request.

"Electric Networks of Armenia" LLC (hereafter referred to as HETC) had proposed to the Public Services Regulatory Commission (hereafter referred to as PSRC) on June 6, 2025, to review the tariff calculation for HETC over a 6-month period, starting from August 1, 2025. Specifically, on one hand, it was proposed to reduce the approximately 3.6 billion AMD additional benefit formed during the 6-month period due to the deviation of planned and actual indicators in the energy balance, while on the other hand, it was suggested to increase the volume of investments made in the previous 6 months by about 12 billion AMD in the calculations. Therefore, the proposal from HETC did not aim to decrease the tariffs set for consumers at all.

This is evidenced by the simultaneous proposal for a decrease in tariffs based on one factor and an increase based on another factor, as well as the justification mentioned in HETC's letter about ensuring the financial indicators required by loan agreements.

It should be noted that the revision of tariffs for companies in the energy sector is usually carried out annually, as the forecasted balance of electricity production and consumption is compiled on an annual basis, making it possible to fully assess the financial and economic results of companies only at the end of the year.

Moreover, while the aforementioned 3.6 billion AMD additional benefit formed from the deviation of planned and actual indicators would have a reducing effect of around 0.5 AMD/kWh on tariffs, under the proposed 12 billion AMD investment by HETC, the cumulative reducing effect of the two factors would total only around 0.2 AMD/kWh.

As a result, any revision of tariffs not justified due to the deviation of planned and actual indicators would only lead to an unjustified decrease of 0.2 AMD, and six months later could pose a significant risk of another increase in tariffs.

In response to HETC's proposal, the PSRC stated in a corresponding letter that the deviation of planned and actual indicators in the energy balance is only one of the factors affecting tariffs and that it would significantly change with annual results.

Additionally, other factors also affect tariffs, which can only be fully assessed at the end of the year, having both positive and negative impacts on the tariffs.

Therefore, in order to ensure a stable tariff policy in the energy sector, the PSRC found it appropriate to carry out the revision of tariffs for companies in the energy system at the end of the year, based on the annual results of the financial and economic activities of these companies," the statement read.