712 Million Rubles: Novosibirsk Residents Overpaid for Heating
The adjustment of heating bills is affected by factors such as average temperature and heating season duration.
Residents of Novosibirsk will have their heating payments for 2025 adjusted by March 31. For most city residents, the amount will be negative and will be credited towards future payments. City-wide, this amounts to 712 million rubles (approximately $7.9 million at current rates). This was announced by Maria Voznyuk, deputy head of the sales department of the Siberian Heat Sales Company (part of SGK), on the radio station «Gorodskaya Volna».
She explained that residents of Novosibirsk and the region pay for heating evenly throughout the year.
«This is also done so that residents» payments do not sharply increase during the heating season and can be paid throughout the year. The utility service provider must make an annual adjustment of the heating utility fee in accordance with the readings of the building-wide meter for the billing year,« she explained.
The speaker clarified that non-payers are not taken into account. The adjustment can be either positive or negative. According to Maria Voznyuk, this is influenced by several factors, one of which is the average outdoor air temperature during the heating period of the billing year and the duration of the heating season itself.
Thus, 2025 was warmer than 2024. The average temperature during the heating season was -3.3 degrees Celsius (26.1°F), and it lasted 231 days. In 2024, the temperature was -4 degrees Celsius (24.8°F), and the heating season lasted 239 days.
According to her, a positive adjustment can be caused by an increase in resource consumption. Moreover, this is influenced by the deterioration of engineering systems, a decrease in the building«s energy efficiency, and the condition of the building-wide meter.
Earlier in Novosibirsk, more than 81 apartment buildings were left without heat supply.
