According to the general director of the heating plant, Václav Pašek, the people of Pilsen will continue to pay the lowest price for heat in the country. According to the Czech Heating Association, the current average is below 1,200 CZK/GJ. This year, the people of Pilsen pay 626.67 CZK/GJ with VAT for heat, i.e. 569.34 CZK/GJ without VAT.
“Originally, the board of directors proposed to increase the price of heat for the year 2024 for residents by CZK 240 per gigajoule without VAT. The new agreement with the second shareholder provides for an increase of CZK 161.30/GJ,” said city councilor Vlastimil Gola (YES).
30 of the 42 representatives present voted for the price increase, the opposition ODS and TOP 09 abstained.
Heat is lost
According to Mayor Roman Zarzycký (ANO), it was possible to reduce the price increase by roughly a third against the original proposal. “The negotiations were very tough, but constructive. Our goal is for Pilsen to continue to have the best heat price in the country,” he said.
According to Pašek, there are four main reasons for the price increase. “The heat commodity is in a deep loss, and all state subsidies for the heating industry have also been cancelled, which means we will lose 200 million crowns. Furthermore, we must continue the decarbonization process (the company’s departure from coal by 2030), which requires a total investment of around seven billion crowns,” he said.
Plzeňská teplárenská supplies 54,000 households. The heating plant, which is the largest supplier of heat in the west of Bohemia, is majority owned by Pilsen and 35 percent by Daniel Křetínský’s EPH group, whose representatives approved the increase on Wednesday evening. The general assembly of the heating plant will have the final say on November 28.
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