The announcement by Wien Energie that it would reduce prices brought movement to the electricity market, the regulatory authority E-Control announced in a press conference on Thursday. The expansion of renewable energy as a result of the Ukraine price shock led to a fall in electricity prices once more. The regulatory authority assumes that the intensive expansion of renewable energy will continue and that the large amount of solar power will further dampen prices.
Most Austrians’ tariffs would be below the upper limit up to which the government would help with the electricity price cap. Since new contracts currently tend to be cheaper, it is worth comparing tariffs and changing suppliers, said E-Control boss Wolfgang Urbantschitsch. A total of 345,649 customers changed their electricity or gas supplier in 2023; the switching rates for electricity were 3.9 percent (following 2.5 percent in the previous year) and for gas 7.9 percent (4.0 percent in 2022). In the first months of 2024, falling prices in wholesale gas and electricity continued to be observed.
The authority did not accept criticism that the electricity price brake would reduce competition. It is also a risk mitigation mechanism; with the cap, more people would dare to take on variable tariffs, which are currently particularly low. Urbantschitsch is critical of the fact that for many customers it is not obvious at first glance how much a kilowatt hour costs. Even discounts and energy Fridays would not contribute to more transparency.
Ukraine gas transit
On the delicate question of whether Ukraine will continue to route Russian gas for Austria in the future, Urbantschitsch said that it is highly likely that gas will no longer flow to Austria via Ukraine and Slovakia from January 2025. Domestic gas suppliers would therefore have to take precautions now in order to be able to meet their delivery obligations to customers.
Wien Energie, EVN or Energie AG should now start to develop other supply sources and routes. These quantities are currently available at moderate prices. Austria’s Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) said at the beginning of March that Austria had taken good precautions for this.
