The European Commission has presented a new Energy Package for Citizens, which aims to reduce the electricity bills of European citizens, accelerate the transition to clean energy and offer clear solutions to energy poverty. The measures come against the backdrop of data that over 30 million Europeans are experiencing difficulties paying their electricity and heating bills. In Bulgaria, according to data from June 2025, this is 1.8 million citizens – one third of the population. In parallel, Brussels announced a strategy to accelerate investments in clean energy, with the energy transition requiring around 660 billion euros per year by 2030.
This comes after a special report by the European Court of Auditors found that the EU's goal of having at least one energy community in every municipality with a population of over 10,000 by 2025 has not been met, because there are still not enough clear rules for the creation and participation in energy communities, especially with regard to multi-family residential buildings. In many countries, including Bulgaria, there is no adequate support at the national level. In our country, something key to the functioning of energy communities continues to be missing: an effective mechanism for sharing energy between their members.
For years, “Greenpeace“ Bulgaria has been calling on institutions to properly implement the Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources into legislation. This will allow Bulgarian citizens to produce their own energy without the cumbersome administrative procedures that currently hinder the process. Unfortunately, this has not yet happened, and the European Commission's Energy Package for Citizens is another good opportunity to finally get things moving - or another space for missed opportunities.
The Energy Package for Citizens provides an opportunity for people to be at the center of the EU's climate and energy transformation. As the EU takes steps to phase out fossil fuels from the energy system, the package must ensure that this transition is not only swift and effective, but also socially fair, by protecting vulnerable households, empowering communities, supporting workers and strengthening citizens' rights to participate in the transformation and reap its benefits.
The Citizens' Energy Package must address challenges related to the distribution network, address shortcomings in the implementation of legislation that may affect citizens, and more broadly strengthen people's support and acceptance of the energy transition. As renewable energy sources (RES) will power the energy system of the future, it is essential that projects are developed in partnership with citizens and the communities they are located in. This is a series of ambitious goals for which Bulgaria still has a lot of work to do.
Today, the benefits of renewable energy remain unevenly distributed and largely in the hands of big business, and active community participation is the exception rather than the rule. This undermines public confidence in many regions, slows down the transition and ignores the key role that individual citizens can play in accelerating it. In Bulgaria, there are currently only four energy communities - two in Gabrovo, one in Burgas and one in Sofia. All four are driven by municipalities, which is currently the only working model for creating an energy community in our country. The reason is problems in the legislation, for the removal of which “Greenpeace“ – Bulgaria has been insisting for years.
“It is time for Bulgarian citizens to have the opportunity to benefit from a decentralized and flexible energy system based on renewable sources. To be able to better manage their consumption and expenses“, emphasized Balin Balinov, coordinator of the “Energy Solutions“ campaign at “Greenpeace“ -Bulgaria. “We are concerned about how slowly everything is happening in Bulgaria, how long the institutions do not cooperate in the development of energy communities, and the experience of other EU countries is that it is energy communities that help stabilize prices and reduce energy poverty. It is a serious problem in our country, one third of the Bulgarian population has difficulty managing their energy bills.“
The energy transition to renewable sources and a decentralized energy system becomes even more important in a situation of constant shocks in fuel prices due to Russia's war in Ukraine, due to Donald Trump's unpredictable policy and due to the war in the Middle East. It is time for good ideas and promising European initiatives to start moving from words into real legislative changes and for Bulgarian citizens to see positive results in their lives. To gain the opportunity for more active participation and real control over their energy costs in a world of constant crises.