Slovaks have no incentive to save gas, unlike Czechs, central bank says

Bratislava, 18 February (ČTK correspondent) – Households in Slovakia have no incentive to save natural gas, unlike those in Czechia, because of state subsidies for energy prices. Although gas consumption by Slovak households fell over the past three years, this was due to higher average temperatures, which meant less heating was needed. Michal Marenčák, an analyst at Slovakia’s central bank (NBS), said this today in an analysis.

„Actual consumption in 2022 to 2024 was just 1.3 percent lower than the estimate based on the temperatures recorded in those years. In neighbouring Czechia, actual household natural gas consumption from January 2022 to September 2024 was 13 percent lower than the estimate based solely on temperatures would suggest,“ Marenčák wrote.

According to him, the drop in gas consumption in Slovakia can be explained almost entirely by temperature trends, while in Czechia the decline in household gas consumption was not only greater but was also more significantly driven by other factors, such as prices.

„Energy prices in Czechia were more significantly affected by the market. In 2022 and 2023, final natural gas prices for consumers rose by an average of 68 percent and 36 percent year on year, respectively, while in Slovakia they rose by 20 percent and 12 percent,“ the analyst wrote.

He added that last year prices fell in Czechia thanks to market developments, while in Slovakia they remained at their 2023 level.

According to Marenčák, broad-based energy price support is disadvantageous because of its high cost and does not encourage households to invest in energy efficiency, for example by insulating their homes or buying a heat pump.

Slovakia began subsidising gas and heat prices for households and other groups of consumers in response to an earlier sharp increase in energy prices on the exchanges. The current government of Prime Minister Robert Fico is continuing the compensation scheme and has also pushed through tax and fee increases in an effort to improve the state of public finances.