Surging Czech electricity prices to hit consumers by September

Wholesale costs for the Czech Republic's electricity companies have surged by around 70% over the past year, and from next month those costs will be passed down to some end customers.

PRE, the Czech Republic's third-largest energy company with around 800,000 customers, has announced that they will be raising their electricity prices as of next month. The company has already sent letters to its customers informing them of the increase in prices from September 1.

"For an ordinary Prague household, the price will increase by approximately seven percent," PRE spokesman Petr Holubec told the daily newspaper Právo last week. 

This increase would result in, roughly, an additional 1,000 crowns per year for the average PRE household in Prague. 

According to the company, the increase in wholesale prices is due to rising emissions, growing demand, and the planned closure of nuclear plants in Germany.

Smaller companies have already stated that they will follow PRE's lead, and experts predict that all Czech electricity companies will be raising prices in the near future.

Still, ČEZ, the largest electricity provider in the Czech Republic, has announced that they will not be raising prices, at least for the time being.

"We have a pricing policy that protects customers from sharp price fluctuations," ČEZ spokesperson Roman Gazdík told Právo.

"We buy electricity and gas for our customers up to three years in advance, so we are then able to keep advantageous prices longer than suppliers who buy at the last minute."

E.ON, the second-largest provider of electricity in the Czech Republic, has also announced that they would not be raising prices in the near future, according to spokesperson Martina Slavíková.