Starting in January 2024, Czech households may see a significant increase in energy prices. The electricity prices may reintroduce the payment for support of renewable sources, which has been waived since October 2020 until the end of this year. It is not yet clear how much this will cost consumers.
One of the discussed options is to return to the price level valid until September 2023, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade spokesperson Marek Vosáhlík. People would pay CZK 600 per megawatt-hour of electricity on renewable sources. This would mean an annual increase of CZK 1,800 in payments for households with an average consumption of around 3,000 kilowatt-hours.
The state currently covers all payments, but next year, they plan to distribute the payment between households, companies, and the state. Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS) said, “This year, everything is paid by the state. This is an unsustainable situation, so next year, we will return to the distribution between the state, households, and businesses. I will try to reduce the total volume, but at the same time, we are discussing how to change the share. Whether it should be the same as it has been set for years, or whether to change it somehow.”
Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela (for STAN) agreed with the participation of people and companies. According to Vosáhlík, another possibility, which the coalition is currently discussing, is to reduce payments for households.
The ministry proposed an amendment to the law within the package that would allow more flexible determination of the fee for different categories of customers. It would also allow adjusting the subsidy from the state budget during the year according to the current situation.
The ministry proposed an amendment to the law within the package that would allow more flexible determination of the fee for different categories of customers. It would also allow adjusting the subsidy from the state budget during the year according to the current situation.
According to Vosáhlík, the state will pay approximately CZK 42 billion to waive renewable resource payments for households from October 2020 to the end of 2023. If the state returned the payment in full, according to an analyst at ENA, Jiří Gavor, the trend of lower energy payments from recent months would be reversed.
“Unfortunately, this would balance the decrease in the price of electricity or gas. Suppliers would welcome it if the government found a way to cover it. Maybe from emissions permits,” said Gavor.