Saratov residents may increase payments for electricity

The Federal Antimonopoly Service has taken the initiative to include the costs of anti-drone protection in the tariffs for electricity transmission. The relevant draft amendments are published on the portal of regulatory legal acts. “MK in Saratov” found out whether there will be a new line in the payments of citizens “to protect against UAVs” and who will pay the costs of power grids for protective structures and repairs of energy.

Strengthen the network

In the list of uncontrolled expenses of electric grid companies, it is proposed to include the costs of protecting personnel from weapons of destruction and for restoring power facilities affected by sabotage and attacks. The project of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) allows to take into account not only future costs, but also actual costs incurred by electric grid organizations in 2022-2025. These amounts will be distributed over three long-term tariff regulation periods.

According to the document, the list of these costs may include the costs of protective structures and structures for buildings and equipment, paramilitary security, special equipment, transport of increased security. As well as personnel protection. The explanatory note to the draft states that the implementation of these provisions will not lead to negative socio-economic, financial and other consequences for business and other economic entities. And the inclusion of the relevant costs will be made on the basis of decisions of federal and regional authorities in those entities where it will be necessary.

The publication of the document on the portal of draft normative legal acts on September 11 caused a public outcry. The media began to write that to save power facilities from the arrival of drones will help increase the “communal”. But the Federal Antimonopoly service told TASS that the changes will not affect electricity tariffs for the population. Note that the publication says nothing about this. However, the project itself does not set a specific tariff increase.

Payment is red?

Let’s see who the new costs may be. There are few options: payment from regional budgets, business and citizens. The FAS project stipulates that the heads of regions will be able to provide support measures to network organizations affected by UAV attacks, allocating subsidies from the regional budget. But what if there is a hole in the local budget? There are entrepreneurs and residents.

Tariffs for utilities are under strict state control, notes the lawyer and member of the Council of the Center for public control in the housing and communal services of the Saratov region Andrey Zhbanchikov. In the region, the relevant Committee for Tariff Regulation is responsible for their formation.

- I believe that we are talking about the inclusion in the economic justification of a new item of expenditure — to protect the power grid from attacks, — comments Andrey Zhbanchikov. Part of these costs can be passed on to consumers, but not this year, since tariffs have already been approved, but in 2027. It is still difficult to assess the scale of the impact on citizens’ wallets, since the marginal indices of utility bills are limited by federal law. Now, the project looks like a trial ball: the authorities are probing the reaction of the population and businesses, which will ultimately bear the burden of spending to ensure security and restore infrastructure.

In the Russian energy sector, there is a mechanism of cross-subsidization: businesses pay more for electricity so that the population can pay less. If the costs of network companies to provide anti-drone protection grow, and the tariffs for citizens remain the same, entrepreneurs will take over the entire burden. Given the frequent attacks of UAVs, there are fears that the power grids will not be limited: water, gas and thermal networks may also be at risk. So regulators have a lot of room for maneuver.

3 billion rubles owed for electricity residents and organizations of the Saratov region in 2025