What we need to know about the new “colored” tariffs
At 15-17 cents per KWh – with the data so far – the average cost of electricity for households next year, according to the announcements of the majority of suppliers.
In practice, prices, without the horizontal subsidies which are abolished on 31 December, are at the level they were at throughout 2023. This means that for approximately 1.2 million households (over 40%) who are beneficiaries of the electric heating subsidy energy of 45-480 euros, which will be implemented for the first time in the first quarter of 2024, the prices will be at lower levels than the current ones.
An important development for a large portion of consumers is, however, PPC’s move last week to reduce by almost 40% the fixed tariff (without fluctuations throughout the duration of the contract), the cost of which has been formed since the previous Monday, December 4 to 17.5 cents per KWh from 28 cents previously. Accordingly, the night tariff is set at 16.6 cents, against 24 cents which was the previous price (30% reduction).
This tariff, which like all fixed tariffs will be highlighted in blue, may be preferred by consumers who wish – regardless of the evolution (upward or downward) of energy prices in the international and Greek market – to they have a fixed charge, which in today’s terms is higher than floating tariffs, but not dramatically different from them. Another important difference of the fixed, blue tariffs, from the rest of the floating ones, is that those who sign such contracts will not be able to “break” them for free before their expiration (they will have to pay a penalty), while in all the others the movement to other supplier or invoice remains free.
With the data so far, the framework for electricity tariffs in 2024 is structured as follows:
From 1-1-2024 there will be four tariff categories:
– The fixed tariff, with a blue marking and a fixed supply price (€/kWh) for the entire period of the contract.
– The special common tariff, with a green marking, in which the supplier will announce the billing price by the first day of the month of application, i.e. consumers will know the price they will pay every 1st of the month.
– The other floating tariffs, marked in yellow, which include tariffs with a floating supply charge (€/kWh), where the price changes, according to the fluctuations of the wholesale electricity market.
– The dynamic tariffs, marked in orange, include the tariffs whose price changes, based on the prices of the wholesale electricity market during the day. A condition for offering the specific tariffs is the existence of a smart meter.
The discussion recently focused on the “green” tariff that was created at the initiative of the Ministry of Environment and Energy in order to be transferred to this set of consumers from 1.1.2024. It is estimated that around 70% of consumers will be transferred to the “green” tariff as everyone except those with fixed kilowatt-hour contracts and those who will explicitly state to their supplier that they do not want the “green” tariff and choose another from those available on the market.
As the Ministry of the Interior points out, the main benefit for consumers who will choose the green tariff is that they will know in advance, on the 1st day of each month, the billing price of the month and will thus be able to compare the suppliers’ offers and they choose the best one. In addition, a QR code (and link) is inserted into electricity bills and other supplier messages (sms and e-mails) with a reference to the publication website of the RAEA price comparison tool, so that consumers can verify the price of each month for the special common tariff and to compare with the total of the suppliers’ offered tariffs.
