The authority wants to raise the price of electricity. Suppliers have said how this will translate into deposits

The proposal of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) to increase the regulated component of electricity prices surprised not only consumers. It also surprised suppliers who are preparing their price lists for next year. Even so, they try to reassure clients that the amounts in their price lists next year will not be dizzying.

An unpleasant surprise in the form of the ERO’s proposal, which would increase the regulated component of electricity prices by 71 percent, shocked both end customers and top politicians. The increase could mean an increase in the price of electricity by around 1,400 crowns including VAT.

However, even energy suppliers, who are currently preparing electricity price lists for next year, were surprised. A large number of them are reducing prices, but due to the potentially higher regulated component, it will probably not be as big a discount as they would like.

According to the proposal, PRE, for example, which will publish price lists for next year only at the end of November, still needs to be arranged. “At this point it’s really just a proposal that we’re not pre-arranging, that would be hasty. For now, however, we tentatively expect a drop in prices of approximately three percent for households and small businesses,” PRE spokesman Karel Hanzelka told TN.cz.

Lama Energy is in a similar situation, which also preferred to wait to compile the price list. “As the ERO proposal is a recent matter, these changes have not yet been reflected in the price lists for next year. We will issue the price lists at the end of November,” said Lama Energy marketing director Jakub Tobiáš.

In contrast, CEZ is already clear. The price list, which is already drawn up for the year 2024, includes cheaper tariffs than last year. From the price list published on the ČEZ website, it follows that the commercial part of the electricity price will amount to 4,792 crowns per megawatt hour.

But that is only one part of the price. Suppliers will not influence the regulated part. “If we are talking about an increase in the regulated part, this does not mean that the invoice will also increase by that much. Now the regulated part is about 40 percent of the total price. The price component decreased during the year, which is excellent news. Thanks to this, for most ČEZ customers , of which there are roughly two million, the prices will not change. For some, they will even decrease,” pointed out CEZ spokesman Roman Gazdík.

However, ČEZ cannot yet say exactly how the regulated part will be reflected in the actual price, also because the final form of the regulated part is still being discussed. “We are waiting for the regulated part, the final form of which will be announced by ERO at the end of November. This happens every year” added Gazdík.

Innogy also introduces the new price list from December 1. There, the price of electricity will reach 4,224 crowns per megawatt hour. Compared to last year, when the price attacked the 5,000 mark of the price ceiling, this is a decrease of 776 crowns.

Fears of dramatic price increases should therefore be unnecessary even for innogy clients. “I think that compared to last year, there will be differences in the order of units of percent as regards monthly payments, but it is premature at the moment,” estimates innogy spokesman Martin Chalupský.

Both companies, which have already published their price lists, offer a number of specialized ones in addition to the standard tariff. In terms of price, however, the difference between the standard and other tariffs is only in the fixed monthly payments. For specific tariffs, such as Accumulation 8 and 16 or Přímotop, which are intended mainly for heating, these payments are lower.

Even Centropol declares that there will be no major price increase. “The prices people will see in next year’s bill will not be more than two percent higher than this year’s prices. For households that live in single-family houses, it will even be less than one percent,” promised Centropol spokesman Jiří Matoušek.

And E.ON doesn’t skimp on optimism either, even if it doesn’t yet have a price list for next year ready. “We will not affect the regulated component of electricity prices in any other way, but for the unregulated part, we have already reduced prices twice this year, in February and October. In total, we reduced prices by about a third. We estimate that there will be no need to approach any increases for the vast majority of our clients advances,” said company spokesman Roman Šperňák.

The ERO proposed an increase in the regulated component of electricity prices on Monday. At the moment, it is only a proposal that the suppliers will negotiate with the ERO. What the actual amount of the regulated component will look like will be clear only at the end of November.

You can see an overview of the tariffs of suppliers who have already published their price lists for 2024 here:

​Fiala promises that electricity will only become more expensive. Babiš is said to be responsible for everything (10/2023):

TN.cz