The new report published in December, Flash Eurobarometer 566 – Consumer behaviour in the energy transition, provides information on how European households perceive the energy market, how they navigate their bills, how willing they are to change their behaviour, and what barriers prevent them from actively participating in the transition. The survey was conducted in the summer of 2025 and covers over 18,000 respondents in all 27 Member States, focusing on people who actually make decisions about choosing a supplier and energy consumption in the household. This makes it particularly relevant for regulators, ministries, energy companies, and expert communities seeking an evidence base for consumer-oriented policies.
For Bulgaria, the results are not surprising: the country consistently ranks below the EU average in terms of trust, comprehensibility, perception of consumer protection, and perceived commitment of suppliers to renewable energy sources. Overall, the results point to a structural risk to the legitimacy and pace of the energy transition.
Trust in the energy market
At the EU level, 63% of consumers say they trust the national energy market, and 79% trust their electricity and natural gas suppliers. At first glance, this seems like a solid foundation for the transition, but the results show deep national differences.
Bulgaria is among the four countries with the lowest confidence in the energy market – only 40% of respondents believe that the market provides fair prices and reliable service. The result for trust in the suppliers themselves is slightly better (63%), but again significantly below the EU average.
This places Bulgaria in a group of countries where:
- liberalization is incomplete or contradictory,
- price signals are highly politicized,
- consumers find it difficult to distinguish between regulatory decisions and market behavior.
Without trust, market mechanisms do not work. Neither dynamic pricing, nor demand response, nor flexibility on the part of households can unfold in an environment of chronic suspicion of market mechanisms.
Comprehensibility and quality of service: the Achilles heel of suppliers
At EU level, around a quarter of consumers say that energy bills are not easy to understand, information on offers and promotions is unclear, and they are not convinced that their supplier is investing enough in renewable energy (information on the share of RES in the energy supplied is not clear and convincing enough).
In Bulgaria, only 39% of respondents consider the information on offers and conditions to be easy to understand; 40% believe that suppliers invest enough in RES; a significant proportion find it difficult to understand the components of their bills.
A relatively small proportion of Bulgarian respondents cite network charges and taxes as the most difficult to understand, but the same percentage (17%) say that “everything” in the bill is difficult to understand – dramatically the highest proportion in the EU. This speaks not to the complexity of a single component, but to a general cognitive breakdown in communication between supplier, regulator, and consumer.
Consumer protection
One of the strongest and most alarming signals in the report is related to the perception of consumer protection. On average, 62% of respondents in the EU believe that consumers are well protected from unfair practices and unlawful interruptions. In Bulgaria, this share drops to 31% – the lowest in the EU.
A large proportion of Bulgarian consumers do not know which institutions to turn to if they feel they have been treated unfairly. However, two-thirds say they would have greater confidence in a supplier that is committed to an officially certified consumer protection code. There is a demand for higher standards and self-regulation, but the institutional architecture does not offer them in a comprehensible and visible way.
Behavior and motivation: economics dominates ecology
The report clearly shows that economic motives dominate when it comes to changing consumer behavior. Between 59% and 65% of respondents would change their consumption patterns mainly for financial benefits, while only 20–24% cite environmental motives as their primary motivation.
This is key to policy design—appeals to “green consciousness” have limited effect, while price signals, dynamic tariffs, and direct savings are far more effective.
Changing suppliers: formal liberalization without real dynamics
In the EU, only 38% of consumers have changed their electricity supplier in the last three years.
The main reason for the change is a better price (68%). The reasons for not changing suppliers are telling:
- 52% are “satisfied enough with their current offer”;
- 26% see no significant difference between suppliers.
This means that in many countries, including Bulgaria, competition exists more on paper than in the minds of consumers.
Bulgaria and consumption monitoring
Bulgaria stands out with a high proportion of households that rarely or never monitor their electricity consumption – around 29%, which is among the highest figures in the EU.
This calls into question the effectiveness of introducing smart metering systems without the active involvement of end consumers and the real potential for flexibility on the part of households.
What needs to be improved: citizens’ priorities
At EU level, the leading areas for improvement are:
- protecting vulnerable consumers and people in energy poverty (38%);
- clearer and more transparent bills (34%);
- preventing unfair commercial practices (34%).
In Bulgaria, the main priority is combating unfair practices (36%), while access to digital tools for consumption management is a priority for only 7% – the lowest figure in the EU.
This shows that basic trust in the process must be restored before digitalisation can take place.
Key conclusions
The energy transition is limited not so much by technology as by a lack of trust and understanding. Bulgaria is in the risk group for almost all indicators related to consumer perception. Economic incentives are the key to changing behavior—environmental arguments are secondary, and this should be clearly reflected in policies. Liberalization without active and informed consumers leads to pseudo-competition.
To the study.
