Slovak households will pay more for their electricity and gas as of January 2020.
The average prices of electricity will go up by 7.6 percent, while the average prices of natural gas will increase by nearly 4 percent. Moreover, households will pay more for heat, with the price increasing by almost 2 percent.
Some households will also see higher bills for water and wastewater charges, which will go up by 1 percent on average throughout Slovakia, the SITA newswire reported.
Market prices higher
The reason for the increase in energy prices is the development of prices of commodities on global markets, said Ľubomír Jahnátek, head of the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO).
“When calculating electricity prices, we used the energy exchange price of electricity for the first half of this year, which was almost €52 per MWh, or an annual increase of more than 28 percent,” he added, as quoted by SITA.
The price of electricity was also influenced by the price of emission allowances, which reached an average of almost €24 per tonne in the first half of this year, up by 96 percent in annual terms.
After taking all requirements of the market players into consideration, the end electricity price for households will rise by 7.63 percent on average, while small businesses will pay an average of 7.15 percent more.
The price decision does not set a fixed price but a maximum price for electricity, natural gas, heat, or water supplies, ÚRSO stressed.
“They cannot exceed that,” Jahnátek said, as quoted by SITA. “However, all energy suppliers can offer a lower price to Slovak households within their market competition.”
9. Dec 2019 at 13:47 | Compiled by Spectator staff
