ČEZ to Increase Price of Heating by 20 Percent Next Year

The energy company ČEZ will increase the price of heat from power plants and heating plants by an average of 20 percent next year. The increase in prices is mainly due to higher costs for allowances and production.

According to the Heating Association, an organisation promoting the interests of Czech heating companies, the rise in prices will affect almost four million customers in the Czech Republic, which amounts to a little under half the country.

ČEZ supplies approximately 7,500 customer points, including over 132,000 households, non-residential premises, and dozens of industrial enterprises, hospitals, schools, and other institutions.

The increase is mainly due to rising costs, which include the price of fuel, materials, repairs, and carbon dioxide emission allowances.

According to ČEZ, the cost of producing heat or buying it from suppliers accounts for approximately 80 percent of the price, and the total amount depends on the source of the heat and the fuel used to produce it.

The increase for next year will average 123 crowns per month. For the owner of a standard 3+1 flat, this will mean an increase of about CZK 256 per month or CZK 3,074 more per year.

Almost 9.5 percent of the company’s heat is produced from biomass, 8.5 percent from hard coal, and about 4 percent from gas. In this context, ČEZ assures its customers that coal and biomass supplies are secured from stable suppliers, so there is no risk of any shortages.

“There are still many moving factors in play that can significantly affect heating prices next year. We are currently discussing whether it would be possible, for example, to reduce the price of hard coal from state-owned OKD for heating plants. Negotiations are still underway on temporary transformation support for heat and the like,” Hájek added.