Electricity: Prices on household tariffs after subsidy – 2024-08-05 04:59:08

Lower than the level of July, several providers set their August household electricity tariffs after the removal of the subsidy decided by the government.

According to the data of the Regulatory Authority, 7 of the 16 tariffs in force this month are reduced by up to 14% compared to July, one remained at the same level while the remaining 8 are increased by up to 28%.

The main reasons for holding down electricity prices for August, despite the increase in the wholesale price, are competition and supplier discounts, government subsidy and the relative normalization of wholesale prices on the Energy Exchange.

Specifically:

• The average wholesale price in July was 135.18 euros per megawatt hour, compared to 98.89 euros in June. But in the last week of the month it fluctuated between 80 and 147 euros, while in the previous period it was close to 220 euros and intra-sessionally it set a new record at 850 euros. However, a factor of uncertainty for the evolution of natural gas prices in the next period, which directly affects power generation, is the developments in the Middle East.
• Many providers, such as PPC, which is the largest supplier, apply large discounts to “green” tariffs, largely absorbing the increases. PPC discounts on the basic supply price in August are 53%, in July they were 31% and in June 38%. According to the data of the company since the beginning of the year, the value of the discounts exceeds 450 million euros. In the same direction, suppliers such as Protergia and Heron kept the August tariffs “frozen” at the level of July (thus, with the application of the state subsidy, reductions occur) while Elin announced a price reduction.
• The government subsidy funded by the imposition of an extraordinary levy on gas-fired electricity producers has been set at 1.6 cents per kilowatt-hour, with the aim of preventing residential electricity consumers from being overcharged by rising electricity prices due to of the recent dysfunction of the electricity market in South East Europe, which was observed during July.

Source: APE – MEB