With a significant increase in the price of electricity and gas, not only households and companies have a problem, but paradoxically also the suppliers themselves. Some of the smaller ones do not have the opportunity to buy ordered energy supplies for customers. They get into the pliers and force the customer to terminate the concluded contract. However, there is no agreement on the market regarding the further development of prices, not even regarding the advantage of the current fixations.
The wholesale price of electricity with delivery for the following year in September this year for the first time exceeded the price of 100 euros (about 2530 crowns) per megawatt-hour (MWh) on the Prague Energy Exchange. A year ago, it was half, according to data from the Central European energy exchange Power Exchange Central Europe (PXE).
The wholesale price of gas then rose even more year-on-year, 2.5 times to about 40 euros (about 1020 CZK) per MWh.
As informed Hospodářské noviny (HN), due to the unprecedented situation on the markets, had to “restructure its portfolio and reorganize its activities”, for example, one of the largest energy suppliers Lumius from Sviadnov near Frýdek-Místek. Even last year, the company reported a profit of 3.9 billion crowns with sales of 3.9 billion crowns.
HN specifies that the changes now only apply to large customers. “We try to negotiate with our customers to terminate the contract with us under certain conditions,” said Lumius owner Pavel Miklas. If customers agree, they will probably have to buy energy on the market at much higher prices than they had contracted. According to HN, Lumius did not buy enough energy for his customers. And he doesn’t have the money to buy them at current prices.
Other companies are also in trouble. According to the daily, the Skautská energie project, which is backed by the Czech Junák, has stopped gaining new customers. It supplies energy to about three tens of thousands of customers. It is not a traditional supplier, it brings together a group of customers for whom the best prices compete.
The situation has also become more complicated for a small gas supplier, the company 123ušetři.cz. According to HN, the company’s CEO Rafael Maurelli has already sent a letter to customers stating that the company has not been able to fulfill its deliveries since September 23. And that everyone, unless they decide otherwise, passes under the company ČEZ Prodej.
Next year will be better, says the supplier
On Tuesday, the sales director of the Bohemia Energy group, Libor Holub, told ČTK that electricity with a supply for 2023 is currently sold for about 78 euros per MWh and for 2024 for 70 euros / MWh. The group will thus increase the price of gas and electricity for households from November.
For electricity and gas, analysts expect prices for unfixed products on the market to rise by as much as 20 percent in the autumn due to high wholesale prices, which may mean that people will pay up to thousands of crowns.
“What has happened on the energy market in the last year would have happened in a purely market environment within five to ten years. Therefore, standard price lists at a time when the stock market price is able to increase by ten euros in ten days (about 250 crowns per megawatt hour), they do not make sense, so suppliers are forced to gradually increase the price, and it may well be that in two or three months they will have to increase the price again, “said Holub.
However, the pigeon does not recommend fixation. He claims that the situation will calm down next year and wholesale gas prices and, consequently, electricity prices will fall. According to him, today the customer will fix the current price for the next three years and the high price will therefore remain for that time. “In such an unstable environment, the best solution is to supply at short-term wholesale market prices, even though these prices are currently high. prices, “said Holub.
Analysts are skeptical
However, not everyone shares Holub’s optimism in calming the market situation; on the contrary, some analysts recommend considering a fixation on electricity prices. “The main rise in prices on stock exchanges is probably over. But on the other hand, we cannot even expect a reduction in the price of electricity,” economist Finlord Boris Tomčiak told the on-line daily Aktuálně.cz.
“Electricity prices across Europe are at record highs. This is due to the resumption of demand to pre-pandemic levels. We are seeing a significant increase in electricity producers’ costs of emissions, for example. explains Tomčiak.
Even according to the executive director of the Association of Independent Energy Suppliers (ANDE) Jiří Gavor, it cannot be expected that wholesale electricity prices will fall significantly in the coming years. “Quite the opposite,” Gavor said.
For example, Petr Bartoň, chief economist of the Natland investment group, told ČTK at the end of August that there was practically no scenario according to which electricity in Europe would become significantly cheaper in the coming years.
On the other hand, Pavel Cyrani, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of ČEZ supplier for the iDnes.cz website saidthat beyond current prices for next year “there is not much reason for further growth”. He pointed out that gradually becoming more dominant renewable sources can produce electricity cheaper, and therefore there is no reason for rising prices.
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