BRATISLAVA, November 30, (WEBNOVINY) — Households in Slovakia need not worry about next year’s energy prices. Chairman of the Regulatory Office for Network Industries Jozef Holjencik informed on Friday that electricity prices for households next year will fall on average by 3.28 percent and the maximum price of natural gas will rise by an average of 0.46 percent. Prices of water supply for households will go up on average by 0.9 percent and for discharged sewerage on average by 1.1 percent. The regulator does not expect changes in prices of centrally supplied heat next year.
The regulatory authority informed that households can save even more on electricity costs. „The aforementioned average reduction in electricity prices of 3.28 percent may not be final for Slovak households. Households can reduce their cost of electricity by 10 percent by choice of the right supplier,“ said Holjencik. The regulator this year returned to regulation of electricity prices for small businesses with annual consumption of up to 30,000 kilowatt hours. The last time their electricity price was regulated was in 2011. The average electricity price for them will drop compared to 2011 by 4.7 percent to 6.6 percent.
According to the regulator, the price of natural gas for households has to increase slightly next year, by an average of 0.46 percent because of unfavorable exchange rate of the euro against the U.S. dollar. „If not for the weakening of the European currency, on which Slovakia has no influence, the price of gas for households could have also gone down,“ said Holjencik. Based on the new prices, households that only use gas for cooking will have their monthly payments increased by one cent. Households that also use gas to heat water will pay 20 cents more per month. Customers who also heat their homes using natural gas will pay more by 0.46 euros per month.
The regulatory authority determined next year’s natural gas prices for households at its own initiative. The latest price proposal submitted to the regulator by gas utility SPP that suggested increasing prices by 25 percent was acceptable according to the regulator both materially as well as for legal reasons. The regulator set next year’s gas prices also for small businesses with annual consumption not exceeding 100,000 kWh. For these enterprises, gas price will drop by about 5 percent.
SITA