Gov't Could Intervene in Fixed-price Electricity Contracts

Government

Businesses need to be "freed from the trap of fixed-price electricity contracts," Minister of Economic Development Márton Nagy said at a conference last week, adding that the government was "working on the details" of the matter and would "intervene if necessary," according to 24.hu.

The government will make announcements in the coming week, Nagy said. Even if the company that signed the contract, rather than the electricity trader, is "at fault," intervention is still required to prevent high electricity prices from fueling inflation and prolonging the recession, he added.

He noted that Hungarian companies are paying EUR 250/MWh, on average, for fixed-price contracts for periods of one or two years, while market prices are around EUR 100/MWh.

Over half of the fixed-price electricity contracts are at prices of more than EUR 200/MWh and some are even higher than EUR 500/MWh, he added.

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