Informed Households and Small Businesses Can Choose Electricity Suppliers – and Save

Landing page for the first BiH Price Comparison Tool, www.uporedistruju.ba, which helps households and small commercial customers to choose their electricity supplier and save on their electricity bills.

USAID Energy Investment Activity

For the first time, household consumers and small businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) can compare electricity prices and shop around for the best deal.

Local regulators from BiH, prominently supported by USAID, publicly launched an online electricity price comparison tool, www.uporedistruju.ba, in December 2018. This one-of-a-kind tool will help customers to better understand the electricity sector and, more importantly, save money on their electricity bills.

The first of its kind in the region, the application provides customers with instructions for choosing the cheapest supplier in the electricity sector. The application also provides basic information about each of the electricity suppliers, consumer rights and responsibilities, and other educational and useful tips for lowering consumption and energy efficiency.

The application was developed with USAID-funded technical assistance through the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and the Energy Investment Activity in BiH, and it is just one result of USAID assistance to BiH in electricity sector reform. Just over a year ago, USAID helped enable major electricity users—Bosnian companies—to save millions by switching electricity suppliers, savings they could then reinvest in expansion and new jobs (see July 2017 story).

“This [usporedistruju.ba] application is a nice tool for households and small commercial customers to compare the prices for universal service between power utilities in BiH,” said Sanela Pokrajcic, president of the Regulatory Commission for Energy in the Federation of BiH, one of the country’s two entities.

Sanela Pokrajcic, president of the Energy Regulatory Commission in the Federation of BiH, told local media that the usporedistruju.ba app is a good tool for households and small commercial customers to save on electricity bills.

USAID Energy Investment Activity

Small business manager Damir Kalmar was one of the first to check out the price comparison tool. “As the person responsible for business operations and costs in the Stanic Trade Co., which has numerous retail stores, I have been searching for ways to save on the company's electricity bills and reap the benefits of the open electricity market. That quest was not that easy – until I learned about the application, uporedistruju.ba. It is the first time that I have been able to find, all in one place, information about how to shop for electricity, how to analyze specific expenses in my electricity bill, and with whom I should communicate,” said Kalmar, Stanic Trade’s managing director. “The educational information from the application will definitely help me to make an informed decision about the best ways to save on our electricity bills and decide whether to switch supplier,” Kalmar said.

Damir Kalmar (pictured), managing director, Stanic Trade Co. in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, says the USAID-developed Price Comparison Tool app will help him lower his company’s electricity costs.

Since its development, the BiH price comparison tool has been used by the EU as a model for development of online tools in other countries in the region and as a positive model of energy sector public outreach and transparency.