Czechs made 800,963 electricity and gas supplier switches last year, up year on year

Czechs made 800,963 electricity and gas supplier switches last year. This was around 2.5 percent more than in 2024. They switched electricity suppliers more often. This follows from data from the Electricity Market Operator (OTE). Consumers were apparently responding to falling prices. Czechia has more than 6.3 million electricity customers and almost 2.8 million gas customers.

According to XTB analyst Jiří Tyleček, more frequent supplier switching among customers is a sign that energy has become a standard competitive commodity and that, following their experience during the years of the energy crisis, people are comparing offers much more actively. "Households and businesses are more sensitive to differences between offers and less willing to stay put out of inertia," Tyleček said.

Price developments are also contributing to more frequent switching, he said. "The exchange price of gas has been falling in recent months and while some suppliers have quickly translated this into better offers for customers, others have been slower in this respect," Tyleček said. "Although electricity prices have not seen significant changes in recent months, price changes and differences are clearer and more stable in this case," he added.

Customers switched electricity suppliers in 595,136 cases last year. This was around three percent more switches year on year. According to OTE, ČEZ Prodej gained the most electricity customers last year, with more than 45,000. It was followed by innogy and EP Energy Trading. By contrast, the operator recorded the largest loss at Centropol, which around 13,600 customers left, according to the data.

For gas, consumers switched supplier in 204,827 cases. In this case, the figure did not change significantly compared with the year before last. The total number of switches was at the level seen in 2022, when the market was affected by the energy crisis. According to the operator, ČEZ Prodej again gained the most new gas customers, specifically more than 22,000. Pražská energetika ranked second and E.ON third. By contrast, innogy saw the largest decline, with nearly 40,000 customer departures, according to the data.

According to the statistics, customers traditionally made the most switches at the beginning of the year, when suppliers often introduce new tariffs. The operator recorded almost a quarter of all switches last year in January. By contrast, the number of supplier switches for both electricity and gas fell to a minimum in spring. In autumn, supplier switches gradually began to increase again alongside the expanding range of offers from suppliers.

The electricity market has been fully liberalised in Czechia since 2006 and the gas market since 2007. Since then, customers have been able to choose their energy supplier.