54 ARTICLE / MAKALE networks. While in western Europe, district heating was often integrated in 'multi-utilities' or separated but acting under a municipal energy planning, the schemes in central and eastern Europe were departments or branches of the national nelaetciotrnicailtygautsiliutiteilsitya.nd the natura! gas grids belonged to the Examples where direct competition between district heating and individual natural gas boilers exists are Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, large cities in Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia. When heat tariffs and fuel prices are regulated, attention needs to be given to the respective competitive positions. Cross- subsidies between customer categories and other distortions need to be avoided. Based on analysis by World Bank experts, the IEA has singled aouptprtohaecfhoellsowing recommendations tor regulatory 3. t Cover the full current costs of the heat supply company t lnclude replacement costs and return on investment t Allow sound operation and management of the district t Bh eeact ionmg pseyt ist itveemwith prices tor other heat sources t Give the district heating company incentives to reduce costs t Give heat supplies and customers incentives to save energy t Be transparent and easily understandable t Protect the customer from unjustifiably high prices. in the past, district heating tariffs have often been structured adisstone-part tariffs covering in a lump sum the fuel costs, rict heating utility costs, operational and maintenance costs, and investment costs in networks and production units. However, one-part tariffs can cause financial instability in a district heating company. When establishing a tariff structure, one should take into account factors such as the reflection of real costs, easiness of installation, minimum administration costs, and incentives tor the end-user to adopt district heating (in the form of incentive tariffs). District heating companies in the old EU Member States ENERJi & KOJENERASYON DÜNYASI started to use the two-component tariff long before the new Member States. The two-component tariff, which corresponds betler to the costs structure, contains a fixed component which reflects a part of the fixed utility costs (i.e. a portion of c in o vestment and other fixed costs) and the variable component rresponding to fuel and other variable costs. This type of tariff structure tends to reduce the risk tor the district heating utility and enables the company to finance modernization programmes. At the same time, customers will have a flatter payment throughout the year. The central and eastern European region has taken a step forward on the pricesetting mechanisms when tariffs moved towards, fullcost reflection, as for example in the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia and Slovakia. Some of the district heating util ities in new Member States, such as the Czech Republic and Estonia, have also started to use the twocomponent tariff structure. lnvestment Under- investment is one of the major obstacles to upgrading district heating systems in transition economies to the competitive, sustainable and customer-oriented systems they could be. While ali parts of the supply chain are in need of refurbishment, the experience in eastern Germany, tor example, shows that it is essential to focus on the customer side first. This would avoid investments in capacity which might turn out to be unnecessary in the long term when the demand decreases due to more efficient controls, metering taon de f of et ch tei vr ee ni me rpgl ey me ef fni ct iaet ni ocny omf et ah es u Er eusr oi pn etah ne bUu ni l idoi nn 'gss D( ii r. ee cdt iuvee on the energy performance of buildings). Furthermore, strong customer focus will improve customer satisfaction, decrease the number of disconnections and help attract new customers. District heating is a long-term investment, and the possibility to attract private and commercial investment directly depends on the expected return on investment. it is important therefore to have policies in place securing a long-term, stable regulatory framework that provides both sufficient flexibility
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