According to data from the Calculix comparator, electricity prices have risen by between 3.6% and 5.8% between 2020 and 2022, depending on the operator and the product. Copyright (c) 2012 stocksolutions/Shutterstock.

According to data from the Calculix comparator, electricity prices have risen by between 3.6% and 5.8% between 2020 and 2022, depending on the operator and the product. Copyright (c) 2012 stocksolutions/Shutterstock.

In Luxembourg, the price of electricity has not risen, unlike the price of gas. There are many reasons for this, but the reduction in the fee to finance renewable energy has done much to protect the consumer.

In Europe, electricity prices are rising sharply. In France, despite government intervention, consumers saw the price per kilowatt-hour rise by 4% on 1 February. In Belgium, the Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation has indicated that the price of electricity increased by more than 50% between 1 December 2020 and 1 December 2021. This is the highest increase in Western Europe.

And in Luxembourg? Consumers have been partly protected by several factors, including a tax cut of around 1.8 cents per kilowatt-hour.

"Electricity suppliers adjusted their prices upwards on 1 January. An increase of around 2 cents per kilowatt-hour. But the charge that each consumer pays in the price of electricity to finance the subsidies for renewable energy has been halved. This represents a saving of 1.8 cents per kilowatt-hour. The rise in electricity prices has therefore not yet really been felt by the consumer,” the Luxembourg regulatory authority (ILR) explains.

Another factor that may explain the low increase in kilowatt-hour prices for households is the anticipatory work of energy buyers from Luxembourg suppliers. Suppliers buy on the wholesale electricity market for the coming months or years in order to build up a purchase portfolio balanced between the short, medium and long term. "Suppliers have bought volumes for 2021 and 2022 before the price surge, which has an impact on future tariffs. However, we cannot completely rule out electricity price increases during the year or early next year. But so far, this reasonable increase in electricity prices has been largely offset by the reduction in the fee," the ILR said.

The situation is completely different for between winter 2020 and 2021. The same applies to heating oil and petroleum products.

Between 3.6% and 5.8% increase

The ULC also says it has had few members upset by a suddenly excessive electricity bill, unlike people who heat with gas. "We still recommend that our members pay close attention to the offers and the possibilities of guaranteeing the price of electricity. But this commits the customer to a fixed period of time, and he cannot withdraw at will," the ULC points out.

Looking at the offers of the different electricity suppliers in the country and using the price comparison , we can see that prices have increased by 3.6% to 5.8% between 2020 and 2022 depending on the operators and the products.

In detail, in February 2020, following the 10% increase in the price of electricity, Delano’s sister publication . At that time, a family of four living in Cessange and consuming 4,000kWh per year would have paid, according to Calculix, €778.55 with the cheapest offer from Sudstroum or €916.79 with Electris’s most expensive offer of the market. Enovos was positioned between the two with an offer of €861.88. In this simulation, there were 37 different offers from five electricity suppliers (Sudstroum, Enovos, Leo, Eida and Electris).

Today, for the same family, the Calcilux indicates that the electricity bill would be €824 with Sudstroum (+€45.45 or +5.8%) or €950.14 with Electris (+€33.35 or +3.6%). Again, Enovos is positioned between the two, with an offer at €848.28 (-€13.6 or -1.6%). It should be noted that suppliers have considerably reduced the number of options, since the simulation proposes 18 different offers from four electricity suppliers (Sudstroum, Enovos, Leo and Electris). As a reminder, .

According to the ILR, which runs the online comparison service, the rise in the price of electricity does not seem to have increased the number of visitors to the site, or at least it is difficult to see a real correlation. "At the end of the year, the number of visits to the site is always a little higher, because suppliers change their tariffs on 1 January. We also see an increase in traffic when the press picks up on subjects related to energy rates and talks about the comparator. So it is difficult to draw conclusions and say that the price increase in Europe has led to a massive increase in the number of visits to the Calculix site," the ILR suggests.

This article was originally . It has been translated and edited by Delano.