Austria: Prices for household energy decreased slightly in February

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Prices for household energy decreased slightly in February. The Energy Price Index (EPI) fell by 1.4 percent compared to the previous month of January, as reported by the Energy Agency.

Prices nevertheless increased by 30.5 percent. In January, prices had risen by around 13 percent compared to the previous month of December.

Prices for household energy have now been on an upward trend for more than a year. In February 2022, prices were already 27.4 percent higher.

Compared to February 2021, this year’s prices have risen by 42 percent.

“Must save consistently.“
“Currently, we can observe an easing again for many energy sources. The view into the future is also far from being as gloomy as it was in the fall,” said Karina Knaus, the Austrian Energy Agency energy market expert.

Nevertheless, prices remain very high, and the expert does not expect them to fall back to the level before the energy crisis. “As a society, we must continue to consistently use energy efficiently and sparingly and build alternative supply mechanisms,” Knaus said.

Electricity
Electricity prices had fallen by 1.6 percent in February compared with the previous month, mainly due to the effect of the electricity cost brake. In a year-on-year comparison, there was a price increase of 6.6 percent. “Due to the extreme price increases in combination with a variety of compensation and subsidy measures, many people currently do not even know at what prices they are supplied,” Knaus said.

In recent months, he said, there have been some “extremely expensive offers and many price adjustments” in the market. The expert, therefore, recommends that customers ask if they are in any doubt and actively look at their contracts. “Now is also a good time to obtain and compare new offers.”

In the case of gas prices, there was a minus of 0.6 percent compared to January, while expenses increased by 67.7 percent over the year. The household prices for district heating remained unchanged from the previous month, about February 2022. However, the price jump was plus 97.1 percent.

Prices for wood pellets fell by 11.7 percent compared to January but were still 74 percent higher.

Prices for firewood also fell by 2.2 percent compared with January, but compared with February 2022, there was a price increase of 77.0 percent.

Gasoline
Only premium gasoline increased in price by 2.0 percent month-on-month. Prices in February thus remained well below the level in the fall of 2022; premium gasoline cost 8.5 percent more. Compared with February 2021, however, the price of premium gasoline increased by one-third (31 percent).

Meanwhile, diesel prices fell by 1.7 percent compared to January, and heating oil was 5.3 percent cheaper than the previous month.

Both energy sources were thus more affordable than ever since February 2022. The price increase for diesel was 17.3 percent, while heating oil was 29.3 percent more expensive.