Gas distributor DEDA and RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, are entering negotiations to determine gas distribution network weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and tariff levels for the regulatory period covering 2023 to 2026 with some distance between them to cover, energypress sources have informed.

A ratified legislative revision that had been forwarded by the energy ministry on the WACC level of the then-DEPA Infrastructure company, now reorganized, had set a WACC level of 8.57 percent for the current year, leaving the rest of the four-year regulatory period pending until the corporate reorganization of the gas company was completed.

The process has now been completed, as officially announced by Italian buyer Italgas, through a merger of gas distributors EDA THESS and EDA Attiki, both subsidiaries of the former DEPA Infrastructure Group, and absorption by DEDA.

The Italian group recently acquired DEPA Infrastructure and its three gas distribution subsidiaries, EDA Attiki, EDA Thess and DEDA.

According to energypress sources, DEDA will soon forward to RAAEY its proposal for WACC and tariff levels concerning 2024 to 2026, thereby setting in motion negotiations between the two sides. Finalized decisions are expected by the end of the year.

Italgas will propose a WACC level of more than 9 percent, expected to prompt a reaction from RAAEY, which is determined to subdue WACC and tariff levels to limit, as much as possible, the burden on consumers, sources said.