Electricity standing charge in Czechia: supplier fees compared

The fixed monthly charge on an electricity bill in Czechia ranges from 120 to 169 Kč including VAT, depending on the supplier. This easily overlooked line can mean savings or overspending of hundreds of crowns a year: customers pay it every month, even if not a single kilowatt-hour is used at the connection point.

According to supplier representatives, the charge covers a company's fixed costs: billing, customer service centers and phone lines. In other words, it is not payment for the energy itself but the cost of servicing and administering the supply. The amount depends on the product and type of consumption, but above all on the supplier.

What suppliers charge

According to suppliers' price lists, the monthly charge including VAT looks like this:

ČEZ — 163.36 Kč for the D01d and D02d tariffs and 146.41 Kč for D25d and D57d, for both fixed-price and open-ended products. PRE — 143.99 Kč on the open-ended product and 156.09 Kč with a three-year fixed price. Prague Gas Company — 119.79 Kč on the open-ended product and 156.09 Kč with a three-year fixed price. Innogy — 153.67 Kč, Centropol — 163.35 Kč with a fixed price and 137.94 Kč without one.

E.ON charges 168 Kč with a fixed price for two and three years and 169 Kč on the open-ended product. At MND the charge is 169 Kč with a fixed price until 2028 and 120 Kč on the open-ended product.

What changed this year

If a customer chose a fixed-price product, the charge stays the same for the whole term of the contract: with a two-year fixed price, for example, the monthly charge will not change either. On open-ended contracts without a fixed price the charge can change, just like the price of the energy itself, and suppliers must notify customers of changes in advance.

The charge usually moves together with commercial prices. PRE raised it in January, but only for new customers: from 119 to 129 Kč a month. E.ON did not change it in January for existing customers on non-fixed products; it stands at 119 Kč a month excluding VAT, which is 10 Kč more than last year. For new fixed-price products it is now 139 Kč excluding VAT.

ČEZ raised the charge slightly in January by 6–9 Kč including VAT after two years without changes, roughly in line with inflation. Only at ČEZ does the size of the charge depend on the distribution tariff: 163 Kč including VAT for households with regular consumption (D01d, D02d) and 146 Kč for tariffs with higher consumption (D25d and above). Innogy raised its gas charge by 5 Kč a month excluding VAT, to 135 Kč.

What it adds up to over a year

An increase of up to 10 Kč seems insignificant, but over a year it adds up to a noticeable sum. ČEZ customers on the D02d tariff will pay 1960 Kč including VAT a year, 101 Kč more than last year. E.ON customers pay 120 Kč more: 2028 Kč including VAT on the open-ended product and 2016 Kč on the fixed-price product. At MND the open-ended product costs 120 Kč a month including VAT, or 1440 Kč a year.

There is almost no way to save on this charge, because it does not depend on consumption. The only way to lower it is to change the product or the supplier. There is also a fixed charge in the regulated part of the price, for distribution: it is set not by the supplier but by the Energy Regulatory Office. It is a fee for reserved capacity depending on the type of circuit breaker, and it changes every year in line with the current price decisions.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz