Heating Costs in Czechia to Rise Up to 30% From January for Gas-Heated Homes

The cost of district heating for Czech households could rise by 5-30% starting in January, depending on the price at which a given heating plant secured its gas supplies in advance. That's according to ENA analyst Jiří Gavor.

"It's clear that prices for gas-based heat sources will go up. If a heating plant hedged itself in advance with long-term contracts, the increase will be 5-10%, but if purchases are made on the spot market, the price hike could reach 20-30%," the expert explained.

Who will be affected

Around 1.7 million households in Czechia are connected to district heating systems, of which roughly half a million receive heat from boiler plants running on natural gas. The country's largest heating network, and one heavily reliant on gas, is located in Brno.

The company Teplárny Brno serves more than 100,000 households, with around four-fifths of its heat generated from gas. An average family in Brno consumes about 20 gigajoules of heat per year and, at the current price of 1,154 crowns per gigajoule, pays roughly 23,000 crowns a year.

If prices rise by 10% next year, the bill will increase by about 2,300 crowns. A 20% hike would mean an extra 4,600 crowns, while a 30% increase would add nearly 6,900 crowns. For a family of four with a typical consumption of 25 gigajoules — the nationwide benchmark used by the Czech District Heating Association — a 30% price rise would translate into an additional cost of more than 8,600 crowns per year.

Not all households with district heating will feel the price increase equally, however — much depends on the fuel used and the purchasing terms of each specific heating plant. Besides Brno, gas-fired heating networks also operate in Jihlava, Česká Lípa, Jablonec nad Nisou and Děčín, among other places. Other major heating plants still rely predominantly on lignite or hard coal, biomass, or waste processing. According to last year's data, two-fifths of the country's heat was produced from lignite, more than a quarter from gas, and about a seventh from biomass. Gavor estimates that fuel accounts for roughly half of the operating costs at gas-powered heating plants.

Why prices will rise specifically from the New Year

Noticeable tariff changes are expected primarily from January 1, since heating plants typically set their heat prices for the entire year at once. Martin Hájek, director of the Czech District Heating Association, stressed that the impact will vary from region to region. "Starting next year, more expensive gas will be reflected in tariffs, but there's no single figure that applies to everyone. It will all be individual, though in some places the price increase could reach double digits," he acknowledged.

According to Hájek, most heating plants have already secured their gas needs for this year, and some companies bought part of next year's fuel in advance at more favorable prices. The remaining volume has to be purchased at today's significantly higher prices.

The wholesale price of natural gas has shifted dramatically this year. Back in January, it averaged €27.65 per megawatt-hour at the key Dutch TTF trading hub, but by Friday it was trading at around €80 — nearly three times higher. Hájek said that in the first half of the year, some heating plants delayed their purchases, hoping prices would fall. "For a long time, it looked that way — even in June, prices for 2027 were still low. Now everyone has realized that underground storage facilities won't be filled, and prices have jumped sharply," he said, adding that Germany is facing similar problems filling its gas storage.

Read also: Brno: what to see and where to go

Source: novinky.cz