Survey: Most Czechs want to keep saving energy, fear rising prices

Most Czechs will continue to save energy during the coming heating season. 80 percent of households will continue to make savings, while a tenth plan to cut consumption further. The reason is concern about rising energy prices, which has been growing again among people in recent months. By contrast, four percent of households plan to turn up the heating compared with last year. This is according to a survey for energy company epet, the results of which are available to the Czech News Agency (ČTK). Heating plants in Czechia began the heating season this year in mid-September, a month earlier than last year.

The survey was conducted in the first half of September among 1013 respondents via the Czech National Panel, which is backed by the agencies STEM/MARK, NMS Market Research and Nielsen Admosphere. It is an online panel where users register to take part in surveys.

Three-quarters of households in the country consciously saved energy during the previous heating season. According to the survey, the vast majority of them will continue making savings this year. Concern about rising energy prices is often the reason. Nearly half of Czechs surveyed said they expect energy prices to rise again. In the spring, a third of the public held this view.

„The situation on wholesale markets is indeed developing differently than experts across energy companies expected at the beginning of the year,“ said epet sales director Roman Šmíd.

The company expects energy prices to rise again after the new year. „The uncertainty over the outcome of the US presidential election and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine are among the factors affecting price developments,“ Šmíd said.

Energy prices on the market have fallen over the past year. According to the survey, nearly 60 percent of households saw the decrease reflected in their final bills. Thanks to savings, most respondents cut their energy expenditure by up to 20 percent. A fifth of those surveyed said they had tightened their belts so much over the past year that they saved between 20 and 40 percent.

It is precisely because of the still-high prices of gas and electricity supplies that almost a fifth of respondents plan to switch suppliers, according to the survey. For 79 percent of them, the reason is higher energy prices from their current supplier. Another seven percent of people switched suppliers in the past six months.

Last year's heating season was the shortest and warmest in the past 60 years. Czech heating plants recorded their lowest heat deliveries during the season, 10 percent below average. They said the main reason was the exceptionally warm weather. This year, they began heating in mid-September.