Citizens in Macedonia receive a monthly electricity bill, while meters should be read every month. If the reading is not carried out, the amount may be determined on the basis of estimated consumption and corrected later, once the actual reading is verified. This means that EVN may not have accurate data on the electricity consumed, yet still bills the consumer a certain amount, according to the The Left party.
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According to the party, OBRM-PDUKM did not eliminate this practice through the new energy regulations, but allowed it to continue throughout 2026. The provisions stipulate a monthly billing period, while for a large number of households the operator must ensure an actual reading at least once every three months. In the absence of a meter reading, estimated billing is permitted, with the adjustment made later.
“Therefore, the bill must be issued every month, but an accurate reading is not mandatory every month,” The Left said. The party recalled that in 2025, the Ministry of Energy, under the leadership of OBRM-PDUKM, introduced the new Energy Law with a promise that flat-rate bills would disappear. However, one year later, the practice is still continuing.
The party accuses the authorities and the ERC of preserving, rather than removing, the legal basis for flat-rate billing, thereby allowing the operator to bill consumers again based on estimates. Meanwhile, they say, EVN faces no consequences. When a consumer delays payment, the system immediately calculates the debt, interest and deadline, and may even lead to the electricity being disconnected. By contrast, when EVN fails to read the meter, there is no sanction against the monopoly, and the burden is placed on citizens through estimated billing.
“If the estimate is inaccurate, the citizen is the one who must appear at the counters, file a complaint and wait for the correction. EVN does not face such a process. This is how this relationship works: the operator fails to perform its duty on time, the ERC allows the failure to read the meter to be turned into a flat-rate bill, while OBRM-PDUKM acts as though the problem does not exist. The private monopoly is guaranteed payment, the institutions provide it with regulatory support, while the financial risk remains with the household,” The Left said.
The Left has called for flat-rate billing to no longer be used as a standard practice. Under its proposal, the monthly bill should be based on the actual meter reading, established through a physical reading, remote reading or valid self-reading. In their view, estimates should be permitted only in limited cases and not as a substitute for work the operator has failed to carry out.
The party is also calling for automatic penalties to be imposed on EVN when the failure to read a meter is caused by its own fault. They argue that if citizens are automatically penalized for late payment, the same principle should also apply to the monopoly. A meter that goes unread because of the operator, according to The Left, should not create an additional financial burden for the consumer.
Another demand is for the ERC to act as a regulator and not as a protector of the monopolist. The Left is calling for extraordinary oversight of Elektrodistribucija and EVN Home, as well as the publication of data on the number of monthly bills issued based on actual readings, those based on estimates, corrected bills and complaints submitted by citizens.
The party is also calling for a mandatory deadline to equip all households with smart meters. EVN, they say, should have a binding plan for their installation, while implementation should be publicly monitored. Modernization, they stress, must not once again be used as a reason to pass the costs on to citizens through higher tariffs.
Finally, The Left is calling for the opening of a procedure to renationalize the distribution network. After years in which the private monopoly has enjoyed guaranteed payment, while consumers have not received guarantees of an actual monthly reading, the party believes that the return of strategic energy infrastructure to public ownership and control should be considered.
