“Tyumen Matryoshka” refused to give back to the network with reference to the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation
The change in the law on the electric power industry will provoke a significant increase in tariffs in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Tyumen Region. After receiving the status of a backbone territorial network organization (STSO), Rosseti Tyumen will receive tens of kilometers of electrical networks and substations under its management free of charge. This will mainly be ownerless infrastructure, as well as some municipal facilities and property of companies that will leave the market due to non-compliance with the criteria of a network organization. Energy market participants note that these are predominantly objects with extremely high wear and tear, the maintenance and repair of which will cost Rosseti Tyumen a tidy sum. As a result, the company will inevitably include the costs of servicing new conventional units in the tariff, which will provoke an increase in electricity prices for legal entities and increase the social obligations of the budget to curb the growth of citizens’ payments. Insiders indicate that the company does not have enough technical resources to operate the acquired assets, this is confirmed at closed events by the management of Rosseti Tyumen itself, while the amount of operating expenses is twice as high as the costs of neighboring power grid organizations.
According to the law on STSO, from January 1, 2025, Rosseti Tyumen JSC (part of Rosseti PJSC) will have to accept for maintenance a significant amount of ownerless, as well as municipal and regional power grid assets. An interlocutor of Pravda UrFO, who took part in a meeting of the energy security headquarters in one of the regions of the Tyumen Matryoshka, said that only in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (the largest consumer) the company will receive up to 10 thousand standard units of electrical equipment free of charge.
This is approximately 3.5% of the resource already available to the enterprise.
Let us remind you that amendments to the Federal Law “On Electric Power Industry” were accepted in mid-July. According to the innovations, each region must have an approved STSO, which will receive a number of privileges. All municipal and regional power grids are transferred to its benefit free of charge. However, the law contains a lot of shortcomings that allow for different interpretations of many provisions. For example, it was previously assumed that if city property is already leased, the corresponding contracts should be terminated and the objects transferred to the STSO. However, Rosseti still continues to lay claim to such assets.
Nevertheless, even a relatively insignificant amount of property after transfer to Rosseti Tyumen will provoke a significant increase in the cost of electricity in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Tyumen Region. According to sources, this comes with the cost of CTSO services.
Elena Baklanova’s position is most dissonant with the statements of the Moscow management of Rosseti. Thus, during the Russian Energy Week, Deputy General Director of the holding Daniil Krainsky said that the consolidation of the electrical grid infrastructure will lead to increased reliability and will reduce maintenance costs through optimization. But apparently, this experience will not spread to the regions of the Tyumen region.
Rosseti Tyumen does not publicly acknowledge the problem and insists that the company has all the resources to ensure energy supply.
However, official statistics indicate the opposite. According to the 2023 report, power engineers have once again increased the accident rate on high-voltage power lines. If in 2021 the company recorded 269 incidents, then a year later there were already 286, and at the end of 2023 – 294. At the same time, the loss rate also increased slightly, which in the reporting period was estimated at 2.67%, balancing on the verge of the standard ( 2.73%).
