Ljubljana, 06 March (STA) - After the full electricity price regulation for households, which was introduced last November, expired at the end of last month, suppliers reduced their prices somewhat, as they were urged to adjust them to the market conditions by the government.
Gen-I, which has a 21.6% market share, supplies electricity at EUR 119.90 per megawatt hour (MWh) under the higher rate, EUR 97.90 per MWh under the lower rate and EUR 108.90 under the single rate without VAT.
Elektro Energija, owned by Gen-I, which holds a 5.1% market share, will have slightly higher prices - at EUR 124.90, EUR 102.90 and EUR 113.90 per MWh, respectively.
Bisol's prices will stand at EUR 118.90, EUR 96.90 and EUR 107.90 per MWh.
ECE, which has a 16.2% market share, and Energija Plus - both belong to the HSE group - cut their prices by 30%.
ECA said the monthly bill of an average household will go from EUR 69 last March to some EUR 64. Their customers will pay EUR 118.70 per MWh under the higher rate, EUR 96.70 under the lower rate and EUR 107.70 under the single rate.
Energija Plus, which has a 13.3% market share, will charge EUR 124.79, EUR 102.80 and EUR 113.70 per MWh, respectively.
Petrol, the third largest electricity supplier, and its subsidiary E3 said the new prices will be about 50% higher than the last regulated price and by up to 25% lower than the previous unregulated prices.
Petrol, which has a 15.8% market share, will charge households EUR 127.95 per MWh excluding VAT for the higher tariff, EUR 107.95 for the lower tariff and EUR 117.95 per MWh for the single tariff.
The country's largest energy company said that the new prices will not affect households' bills much. The bill is expected to be slightly lower than the average for January-September last year and lower than for November and December last year, slightly higher than for October last year and much higher than for January and February this year, when the costs were reduced due to the change of the network charge fee.
Petrol will also offer an almost 10% discount to customers who will sign one-year contracts by the end of April. An average household, which will use this discount and cash in on Petrol's loyalty points, will pay EUR 61.50 for electricity a month, the company said on Thursday.
E3, which has a 9% market share, has three packages for their consumers, with the Green package prices matching those of Petrol, the Simple package bringing slightly higher prices, and the Comfortable package envisaging a uniform price of EUR 119.95 per MWh for all three rates without VAT.
The price of electricity for households had been regulated between 1 September 2022 until the end of February. Last month, households paid EUR 84 per MWh under the higher rate, EUR 70 under the lower and EUR 77 under the single rate.
The government decided against extending the regulation in mid-February, but it adopted a decree by which household electricity consumers will be fully exempt from paying the contribution to support renewable energy production at least until July, which was to eliminates the negative consequences of the new network charge system, which was introduced in March, on certain seasonal consumers.
Environment, Climate and Energy Minister Bojan Kumer called on suppliers to reduce their prices when the regulation is lifted to reflect the actual market conditions, as the initially announced prices ranged from EUR 155 to EUR 165 per MWh for the single rate.
Electricity prices had been regulated in Slovenia since 1 September 2022. They were fully regulated until the end of 2023, between January and October 2024, the capping measure applied to 90% of consumption, while suppliers had the liberty to charge for the remaining 10% at their own discretion. They were fully regulated again between last November and this February.
