Electricity prices in Energy Community rise 11% for households, decline 19% for industry in last four years – ACER

In the period between 2013 and 2017, the average electricity price for households in the Energy Community (EnC) Contracting Parties (CPs), without Ukraine, increased by 11%, from 6.8 euro cents/kWh to 7.5 euro cents/kWh, while average industrial prices decreased by 19%, from 6.5 euro cents/kWh to 5.2 euro cents/kWh. The share of the energy component in the final bill for households was the highest in Albania (62%) and the lowest in Serbia (33%), the ACER Annual Report on the Results of Monitoring the Internal Electricity and Natural Gas Markets in 2017 finds.

The Market Monitoring Report (MMR), which is in its seventh edition, consists of four volumes, respectively on: Electricity Wholesale Markets, Gas Wholesale Markets, Electricity and Gas Retail Markets, and Consumer Protection and Empowerment. It covers the EU Members States and, for selected topics, also the EnC CPs.

Highest industrial price reported in Serbia – 6.58 euro cents/kWh

According to ACER’s report, in the EnC, the upward trend in final household prices, as well as the downward trend in final industry prices, continued in 2017. In 2017, the average electricity price for household consumers in EnC CPs without Ukraine was 7.5 euro cents/ kWh, which was 2.7 times less than the average EU electricity price for households in the same year.

In Germany, the EU state with the highest household prices (30.5 euro cents/kWh), consumers pay more than three times the price paid by Bulgarian consumers (9.7 euro cents/kWh).

In general, household electricity prices in EnC in 2017 were the highest in Moldova and Montenegro (10 euro cents/kWh), and the lowest in Georgia and Kosovo*. With the exception of Georgia and FYR of Macedonia, where household prices slightly decreased in comparison to the previous year, in all other EnC CPs the electricity prices for households increased, the report reads.

In 2017, the lowest electricity prices for industrial consumers were in Georgia and Kosovo*, with 5.1 euro cents/kWh, whereas the highest industrial price was reported in Serbia (6.58 euro cents/kWh), though data for Albania and Moldova was not available. On average, in 2017, electricity prices for the industrial segment in the EnC CPs were half of the average electricity prices for industry in the EU.

In the EU, industrial electricity prices were the highest in Denmark (24.0 euro cents/ kWh), which was five times higher than those in Luxembourg (4.3 euro cents/kWh).

RES charges at 20% in Germany, 1% in BiH and Serbia

The ACER report also details results of an analysis of the structure of the final price and the relative changes of each component over time, based on data on the breakdown of standard incumbent electricity offers available in the capital city of each country to household consumers with an annual consumption of 3,500 kWh.

The energy component accounted for 78% of the final bill for households in Malta, but only for 14% in Denmark. The share of network charges in the final price was the highest in Norway, where they accounted for 47% of the standard incumbent offer, and the lowest in Italy and Greece, accounting for 17% of the final price.

In the EnC CPs, the share of the energy component was the highest in Albania (62%) and the lowest in Serbia (33%). The share of network costs in the total household electricity price ranged from 21% in Albania to 43% in Serbia.

Charges for renewable energy sources (RES) accounted for more than 20% in the total incumbent offer in Germany, Portugal and Slovakia, while in the EnC CPs, the RES support accounted for between 1% (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia) and 7% (FYR of Macedonia). Between 2015 and 2017, in Albania and Serbia, the decrease in the energy component was offset by an increase in the network component, while in Montenegro the energy component decline was compensated by an increase in the share of the RES charge.

In Albania and Kosovo*, no RES support mechanism was reported by the national regulatory agencies for 2017.