When you say electrical energy
Electricity is a commodity that has surrounded us since the very beginning, yet it took a very long time to learn to live with it. People did not trust electricity even in 1882, when Thomas Alva Edison had the very first power plant built. But their number gradually grew, people became fond of electricity, and today almost no one can imagine life without it. At the same time, electricity was introduced to households only in the first half of the 20th century, and the Czech Republic received complete coverage in 1955.
Today we can say about it that it is getting greener in the EU, the share of renewable energy sources in electricity production has more than doubled since 2004, in 2022 the EU produced almost 40% of the total electricity produced from renewable energy sources. Fossil fuels accounted for 38.6% of electricity, and nuclear power accounted for more than 20%. The main fossil fuel used to generate electricity was gas (19.6%), followed by coal (15.8%).
How does the electricity from the power plant reach the home?
To, a distribution network is needed to get electricity to our sockets, which is operated by 3 companies in our territory. In alphabetical order, they are ČEZ distribution, E.ON Distribution and PREdistribution, while transmission services in the Czech Republic are provided by ČEPS, i.e. the Czech Electricity Transmission System. It also ensures the balance between the production and consumption of electrical energy at any moment in a dispatching manner. We must also mention electricity suppliers, of which there are quite a few. They will buy electricity from producers or traders on the energy exchange. The European Energy Exchange in Leipzig, which also has a branch in Prague, is important to us.
• E.ON Energie, as
What about the price of electricity?
The price of electricity consists of two components, namely:
● Unregulated component, which is the price for power electricity. Only this part of the price can be influenced by the energy supplier.
● Regulated component, the amount of which is determined by the Energy Regulatory Office and includes fees associated with the process of electricity production and distribution from the power plant to your outlet. These fees include distribution fees for the transport of electricity, a fee for reserved power, i.e. for the fact that you can take as much electricity as you need from the grid at any time, a fee for system services, a fee for the market operator and a contribution to the production of electricity from renewable sources. The regulated component makes up around half of the price per MWh.
What about the development of electricity prices?
The energy market has recently been unstable, energy prices fluctuate. At the turn of 2021 and 2022, there was a high increase in prices, which led to some suppliers going out of business. These were suppliers who bought energy at current prices and immediately sold it on to customers. At that point, they were buying energy more expensively than selling it, and that led to their demise.
A good supplier does it differently, he buys energy in advance and thus protects his customers from a sharp increase. They are assured of energy supplies at a relatively favorable price, but at the same time they have to reckon with the fact that the price of electricity for them will fall more slowly than on the stock market.
