Greek State electricity subsidies offered to consumers in January improved the country’s energy-cost ranking in Europe by 20 places, lowering its ranking to 22nd, following a top-three ranking a month earlier, according to lists published by ACER, Europe’s Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators as well as the Austrian and Hungarian regulatory authorities for energy.
Electricity bill costs in Greece last month would have been 40 percent higher without the support of state subsidies, it has been estimated.
Greece’s average price for a kilowatt hour in January, 18.5 cents, following state subsidies, would have reached a level of 25 to 26 cents without the state’s subsidy support.
Electricity prices in the German capital Berlin were Europe’s highest in January, increasing 38 percent in a month to 50 cents per kWh. London was ranked second with 47.11 cents per kWh, followed by Copenhagen, at 46.69 cents per kWh.
Although Greece’s electricity market continues to be troubled by serious structural issues, leading to wholesale prices well above those of other European countries, domestic retail electricity prices remained 25 percent below January’s EU average of 26.07 cents, based on figures of 33 cities, and the EU-27 average of 24.67 cents.
However, overall amounts spent by the Greek state and consumers to cover electricity bills are among Europe’s highest.
As for the natural gas market, Greece’s retail price for households was one of the lowest in Europe in January, despite a 25 percent increase in January.