Electricity prices for Slovenian firms among highest in EU in 2024

Last year, Slovenian households had cheaper electricity than the European Union average while the tariffs for other categories of consumers, including businesses, were among the highest in the EU, according to an analysis by Slovenia’s transmission system operator ELES.

The analysis, conducted by ELES CEO Aleksander Mervar, also showed network fees are significantly lower than the EU’s average.

Slovenia is in the bottom third of the list of the 27 member countries. As for its neighbors, domestic prices were higher than in Hungary and Croatia, and lower than in Austria and Italy, Naš Stik reported.

Last year, Bulgaria had the lowest prices in the EU, followed by Malta, Luxembourg, Hungary, and Croatia. When measured against purchasing power, prices in Slovenia are in the lower half of the list.

The Government of Slovenia has capped electricity prices for households

The analysis attributes the lower tariffs for households mainly to measures that the Government of Slovenia introduced. The two main interventions were setting a maximum price for 90% of consumption, and freezing the payment of a fee for subsidizing electricity production from renewables and high-efficiency cogeneration.

From January 1 to October 31, the maximum price was 8.2 eurocents per kWh in the lower tariff and 11.8 eurocents per kWh in the higher one. They were the maximum prices for 90% of consumption, while the remainder was set by suppliers in line with the market conditions.

Without government measures, the annual bill of the average Slovenian household, with an annual consumption of 4,000 kWh, would be higher by EUR 345.89 or 45.77%, according to the calculation.

ELES denies network fees impacted competitiveness of firms

The conditions for businesses were different. Prices for commercial and industrial consumers were among the highest in the EU. However, the domestic average was lower than in neighboring countries.

Businesses in Serbia experienced a similar issue last year.

ELES denied the claim by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia that high network fees lowered corporate competitiveness. The company argued they were significantly lower for commercial consumers, by 36.5% to 49%, than the EU average.

In addition, network fees are as much as 53% below the level in the countries surrounding Slovenia, according to the ELES analysis.

Network fees for households in Slovenia are among the lowest in the EU.