It is not clear what proportion of Prague residents are affected by the increase. Statistics on fixed energy prices are missing. However, analysts estimate that about three-fifths of households today use a fixed price contract.
“The share of fixed-term contracts has long been minor and increased only with the advent of the energy crisis; according to market reports, it has already exceeded sixty percent,” says ENA analyst Jiří Gavor.
Why are energy prices still rising?
The remaining households must get used to the fact that the supplier will send them a notification once every few months with another upcoming price increase. Pražská plynárenská has done so three times since last November, most recently in April. It is the largest gas supplier in Prague.
For a gas-fired Prague household, the average invoice amount has doubled since last year. “In September, the household paid up to 20,000 crowns a year for a normal apartment. Now it can be between 30 and 40 thousand. The pace of price increases is similar for a normal family house. At current prices, the annual cost can climb over 50,000, “calculates ENAS analyst Vladimír Štěpán, according to which the new prices are already added to the increase in advances.
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The situation with electricity is not so dramatic. But even with it, the people of Prague will pay extra, by about a third year-on-year. Prague Energy, the largest supplier of electricity in the metropolis, has risen in price for the second time since April. “While before the energy crisis, an ordinary household paid approximately 15 thousand crowns for electricity, today the same consumption will cost it 20 thousand,” Gavor points out.
The reasons for the increase remain the same. After it became clear last autumn that there was not enough gas in European storage for the coming heating season, the uncertainty associated with the war in Ukraine became a major factor.
Price correction cannot be expected, says Gavor. “According to military analysts, a reduction in the intensity of the fighting can be expected at the earliest after May 9, when Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly wants to present his territorial gains in Ukraine. At the same time, without price dampening and de-escalation of tensions between the West and Russia, energy prices will not fall significantly, “concludes Gavor.
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Electricity and gas prices are also rising by other suppliers. Last December, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Analysis at the Institute of National Economy of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic published a study according to which energy is an increasingly important item in the budget.
According to the study, the average Czech household will pay around 941 crowns a month for energy year-on-year this year. An ordinary household would thus spend 33 percent of its income on housing instead of the current 29 percent if its income and other costs such as rents and mortgages did not change. According to the study, the jump in energy prices will hit low-income households the most.
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