The Ukrainian National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Ukraine) has officially appealed to the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Utilities (NEURC) demanding a revision of the current maximum price caps on the electricity market. According to the organization's experts, excessively low price limits pose severe threats to the stability of Ukraine's energy system, especially ahead of the heating season and amid ongoing deficit hours.
Threat to Imports and Peaking Generation
In its appeal, ICC Ukraine emphasizes that the established caps directly block two critical sources of energy deficit coverage. First, under artificially suppressed price limits, commercial electricity imports from European Union countries become economically unviable, as European quotes often exceed the Ukrainian maximum. Second, the low price ceiling makes the operation of modern gas-piston and gas-turbine peaking generation unprofitable precisely when demand for it reaches its peak.
Market Signals and Business Position
An analysis of the balancing market situation during the first decade of September confirms these concerns: the state-owned company Ukrenergo recorded significant price fluctuations, with resource costs approaching the current limit of 17,000 UAH/MWh in a significant number of periods. This clearly demonstrates the severe pressure of price caps on market pricing. Consequently, ICC Ukraine insists on raising the maximum price limit on organized market segments to 18,000 UAH/MWh with the prospect of further integration with the European market (market coupling).
Broad Business Association Consolidation
The demand to revise price restrictions is supported by a wide range of energy experts and business associations in the country. Earlier, the European Business Association (EBA) and the Federation of Employers of the Fuel and Energy Complex of Ukraine made similar calls to the Regulator. Representatives of specialized associations and in-house counsels of energy companies unanimously agree that rigid state regulation in the form of understated price caps contradicts market liberalization principles and creates critical risks for surviving the autumn-winter period.
