Energy prices have frozen, experts advise fixing them – News of the World

“I’m more of a fan of conditioning. Prices are already reaching a long-term normal, and even if they don’t have to go up significantly, the position is worth it. It offers a price twenty percent lower than the tariffs for an unlimited period,” XTB chief analyst Jiří Tyleček told Novinkám.

A position is also proposed by the ENA expert Jiří Gavor. “I still think the time for a long-term settlement has not yet come. But you can choose between a one-year and a two-year position,” he said.

According to him, the market situation has not changed much since the summer. After a price hike since August, prices stabilized.

Some suppliers are announcing discounts which mostly come from January. For example, CEZ will reduce the price of electricity for contracts for an indefinite period with around 25 subscribers starting in the New Year. With average consumption, this means a saving of 750 crowns per year for the family. However, even after this discount, people will pay more than if they set the price.

According to Ušetřeno.cz analyst Tomáš Vrňák, there is uncertainty in the markets at the moment. “Since February, when the price of electricity reached at least below the level of 75 euros per megawatt hour, it has risen to the current 90 euros,” he told Novinkám.

On the other hand, according to him, suppliers are still offering favorable construction offers. “This leads to a reduction in their margins. However, due to developments on the stock exchange, it cannot be expected that further major discounts will appear,” he said.

Gavor pointed out that the situation of hundreds of thousands of customers from the time after the collapse of the supplier Bohemia Energy, when they turned to suppliers as a last resort, is now coming to an end.

“However, those buyers will not get as good a price as the fall of 2021, which seemed very high to them at the time,” he said. Prices have risen significantly since then.

In addition, the prices for the next year are not definitive, because the regulated part, which makes up about forty percent of the total payment for electricity, will also change from January . This has increased significantly this year and further growth, although not in tens of percent, is expected for next year as well.

According to the spokesperson Michal Kebort, the Energy Regulatory Office decided to change the regulated part of the price by the end of November.

“For the year 2025, there will certainly not be any shock that we saw this year again. The governor will keep it as low as possible. It will be a return to the situation as it was years ago, when the regulated part of the price will rise in values ​​of just a few percent,” Gavor estimates.

According to him, on average, the increase in payments for the regulated part, where the payment for distribution has the largest share, will be around five percent. This would mean an increase in total payments of about two percent, for a normal consumption of about 500 crowns per year.

For gas, Gavor expects relatively large growth. “However, this will not have much effect on the final price, as the regulated part only makes up about a quarter of the price. There could be a ten percent lower increase,” he said. However, this increase cannot be protected even by stabilization.

It applies in such a way that a home with a standard discharge level and consumption of 3,000 kilowatt hours will pay about 25,000 crowns per year, similar to the middle of the year. For gas, payments vary greatly depending on how households use it. Those who cook with gas pay from four to five thousand crowns. According to the supplier, families that use gas for cooking and water heating spend between 37 and 44 thousand crowns per year. Homes that also use gas for heating spend from 59 to 71 thousand for it every year. By choosing a provider, you can save more than ten thousand crowns.

Gas payments may also affect whether Russian gas continues to flow through pipelines to Europe next year. Ukraine has announced that it will not renew the transfer agreement. Stopping the gas flow would make it more expensive.

According to Tyleček, there is a risk that Russian gas will stop flowing to Europe, which would mean more expensive purchases from other suppliers.

“The big uncertainty for consumers is still the movement of Russian gas through the Ukrainian region, which is likely not to continue next year and thanks to the suppliers who were able to reduce prices a little . This could lead to an increase in gas prices and therefore electricity,” said Vrňák.

However, Gavor assumes that the situation will eventually be resolved, for example, by flowing gas to Europe from Azerbaijan or by Western European suppliers reaching an agreement directly with a monopoly supplier. Russia’s Gazprom.