Energy prices for Slovak households to increase in 2011

Slovak households will pay higher energy bills in 2011, for electricity, natural gas, and central heating. Based on a decision by the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO), the price of electricity will rise by 4.82 percent on average this year, while the price of natural gas will increase by 4.47 percent from 2010. The price of central heat should go up an average of 6 percent according to information supplied by heating companies to the SITA newswire.

Slovak households will pay higher energy bills in 2011, for electricity, natural gas, and central heating. Based on a decision by the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO), the price of electricity will rise by 4.82 percent on average this year, while the price of natural gas will increase by 4.47 percent from 2010. The price of central heat should go up an average of 6 percent according to information supplied by heating companies to the SITA newswire.

This year's prices of electricity for households will increase more than the regulator approved because of a fee that will go to the National Nuclear Fund and the country’s higher VAT rate, said Andrea Danihelová, the spokeswoman for the local power distributor in eastern Slovakia, VSE. The end price paid by VSE customers should increase 8.25 percent on average she said.

Another local electricity distributor, SSE, confirmed a price increase of approximately 5.4 percent for households in central Slovakia due to higher tariffs for operation of the system and by 8.2 percent after inclusion of the higher VAT and the newly introduced fee to the National Nuclear Fund. ZSE, which supplies western Slovakia, expects that its customers will pay 8 percent more.

The regulator stated that behind the rise in this year's electricity prices are mainly higher costs for support of renewable energy that will skyrocket by 527 percent. The average rate for system operation will rise in 2011 from the previous year by €8.50 per megawatt hour. “The given increase will be reflected in the final electricity price for households," said ÚRSO.

Based on the decision of the regulatory office, monthly costs of households which use gas for heating will go up by about €4.40. Households which consume 600 kWh annually and use gas only for cooking will pay 11 cents more monthly. Households that use natural gas to heat water and consume 12,000 kWh annually will pay €1.70 more on a monthly basis. However, households using natural gas also for heating and consume about 30,600 kWh annually will pay around €52 more per month. ÚRSO said that the price of gas had to go up particularly due to weakening of the euro against the US dollar.

Prices of central heating for households are to increase by an average of six percent this year. The Slovak Association of Heat Producers said that the estimated six percent increase in heating prices will be the result of the introduction of excise tax on coal and natural gas used by heating firms for the production of heat, as well as the increase in the VAT rate by one percentage point. According to head of the regulatory office Jozef Holjenčík, the announced increase in natural gas prices for heat production should not have a significant negative influence on heating prices. He also said that the 6.12 percent increase in the natural gas price will reflect in an approximate four percent increase in the end price of heat.

Source: SITA

Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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