Social tariffs for electricity and natural gas will increase from October 1, the Electricity and Gas Regulatory Commission (Creg) said on Tuesday.
Tariffs will increase by an average of 7.8% for electricity and 9.9% for natural gas, indicates the Creg, confirming a slightly higher increase than that recorded in July. The single electricity rate will be 26.510 cents per kilowatt hour (VAT included), compared to 24.613 currently. For natural gas, the social tariff will be 3.4 cents per kWh (also including VAT), whereas it is currently 3.093 cents.
The social rate is a reduced rate reserved for certain categories of people or households, such as those entitled to integration income, tenants of social housing or beneficiaries of the income guarantee for the elderly (Grapa) . It is the same for all energy suppliers and is set every three months by the Creg. The federal regulator stresses that the increase in social tariffs is capped. “In the absence of these, price increases would have averaged 41% for electricity and 276% for natural gas”assures the Creg.