Households that buy natural gas from ČEZ and have an open-ended contract must prepare for an extraordinary increase in gas prices. From July, prices will increase by 76 to 86 percent compared to the last price list from the beginning of February, depending on consumption. For higher consumption, annual payments will thus increase by many tens of thousands of crowns.
Unlike electricity, where ČEZ will significantly increase prices only for new customers from July and will not change existing customers’ prices, gas prices will increase for everyone.
“The situation is unfortunately unprecedented. The prices have risen to new records because of the war and have been very high for a long time, which could not be counted on,” Roman Gazdík, a spokesman for ČEZ, said.
“The security aspect is much more important. At present, we have to buy higher quantities of gas at currently unfavorable wholesale prices for the sake of security of supply and supply before the next heating season,” said spokesman Gazdík
“Unfortunately, this will also be reflected in the price lists for some end customers for the next heating season,” he added.
The increase will affect about a fifth of customers, he said. The remaining four-fifths now have a fixed price. Of these, the fixation ends in the second half of the year for about a tenth.
From 1 July, a cubic meter of gas for households with an open-ended contract, which only cooks with gas and has an annual consumption of 80 cubic meters, will cost nearly CZK 53. This is 76 percent more than in February. Thus, a household will pay over 4,200 crowns annually when previously it would have been 2,400 crowns.
A household in an apartment that uses gas for cooking, heating, and hot water and consumes 1,800 cubic meters a year will pay 49.55 crowns per cubic meter.
Thus, they will pay over 89,000 crowns for gas annually, when according to the February price list, it was 48,300 crowns. Families that use gas for heating, heating water, and cooking in a family house and consume 3,000 cubic meters will pay CZK 49.13 per cubic meter.
According to February prices, they will thus pay over CZK 147,000 per year, which would be CZK 79,230 per year.