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Household budgetThe 2023 electricity bill will not be lowered
The price of electricity fell dramatically at the end of the year. But households will not see their bill drop. The director of Romande Energie explains why.
Christian Petit, director of Romande Energie, specifies that electricity prices are set according to purchases made in previous years.
Yvain Genevay/Tamedia
The Federal Office of Energy publishes daily the evolution of the price of electricity, on the spot market for Switzerland. At the end of last August, it had reached a peak of 725 euros per MWh. Since then, it has come down to 100 euros at the end of October. Then it rose to more than 400 euros during the cold spell in early December. Today, January 4, it stands at 137 euros, following hitting a low of 7 euros on New Year’s Day.
Therefore, consumers are already asking the question: will these reductions be passed on to their electricity bill in 2023? Recall that at the end of August last year, “historic” increases in the bill were announced in Switzerland (on average 27%). Romande Energie had announced an increase of 49% for most households. That is regarding 300 francs more per year for an average household.
Rates will not change in 2023
The director of Romande Energie, Christian Petit, immediately reduced the hopes of those who hope for an impact on the reductions currently observed, because the fixing of the price of electricity is done over a much longer period: “We have an obligation to announce the prices on August 31 for the following year, he explains to matin.ch. The 2023 rates have been set this way and will not change. In August 2021, the electricity had already increased, but we had set the 2022 tariffs without taking this increase into account. Throughout 2022, customers therefore kept prices very low, while prices rose very sharply. We therefore had to increase the rates on January 1, 2023”.
The day-to-day evolution of electricity prices shows a downward trend since the peak at the end of August.
Federal Office of Energy.
“A shallow do not do the spring”
Romande Energie buys electricity spread over four years: “Today, we still have to buy some for 2024. Depending on our purchasing conditions, this might have a downward impact that year, but the market remains tight. Admittedly, there was a dramatic drop between Christmas and New Year. But it primarily concerns the spot market price for electricity which is traded on a day-to-day basis. It is true that prices for 2024 are currently on a downward trend, but they remain high. At the beginning of 2022, electricity was found at 11 ct. the kWh for 2024, currently we find it at 25 ct. At the peak, in August 2022, it rose to 56 ct. There has been a sharp drop since then, but a swallow does not yet make spring.
More higher prices in the future
Can consumers hope for a return to the stability that we have known for many years? “During the 2010s, observes the director, the electricity market experienced a fairly long period of stability around 7-8 ct. the kWh (for the energy part only, excluding network stamp and taxes). I don’t think we will find it once more, because these prices were too low compared to the real costs of the branch. In the future, customers should expect higher electricity prices to finance infrastructure. And this in the context of the exit from fossil fuels and nuclear power, while the alternatives of sustainable energies take time to be put in place”.
