THE REGULATORY Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO) rejected a proposal submitted by Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP), Slovakia’s primary gas utility, to raise prices for natural gas used by households, the SITA newswire reported.
ÚRSO spokesperson Miroslav Lupták said the authority also turned down the utility’s proposal to increase prices for natural gas used to produce heat. The spokesperson said ÚRSO found profound inconsistencies in the utility’s documents and said the regulator found no valid reasons behind the proposal for it to change the previously approved prices.
The gas utility delivered its proposal to ÚRSO at the beginning of September for an increase in the price of gas for households of 7.5 percent and an increase in the price of gas used in heat production of 10.1 percent, both effective on November 1, 2010.
ÚRSO stated that the company failed to provide complete underlying documentation, even after repeated requests to do so.
SITA wrote that SPP’s failure to include invoices for gas it had purchased from all suppliers was a profound deficiency in the proposal, adding that this involved SPP’s purchase of about 1.059 billion cubic metres of gas.