What to expect from electricity and gas prices in Czechia in 2025? TEDOM energie’s view – part II

Three years have passed since the collapse of Bohemia Energy, one of the largest electricity suppliers. For hundreds of thousands of customers who chose three-year fixed-price contracts at the time, a key decision point is now approaching. At the same time, a longer period has passed since the 2021 energy crisis, but the market still bears its after-effects. Added to this is growing pressure on the regulated component of electricity prices due to the necessary investment in infrastructure, which affects costs for households and businesses.

The second part of an interview with Mr Jakub Odložilík, head of TEDOM energie.

Do you have specific recommendations for customers on how to secure a better price for electricity and gas?

Everyone should start with themselves. Remember their childhood, when their parents sent them to turn off the lights so they would not be left on unnecessarily. I do it everywhere, all the time—even when visiting someone or staying in a hotel. Let us admit that, in many cases, high consumption is caused by needless waste, even if we may not realise it.

For example, we have old, inefficient appliances. We do not schedule the washing machine or dishwasher to run when electricity is cheaper, even though they have timers. I would recommend that everyone buy a simple device that can measure instantaneous consumption, go around their appliances and get an idea of what consumes how much. You will often find that even four cheap phone chargers permanently plugged in show up in your consumption. Let us all take the first step: reduce our needs, and thus our consumption.

The second step is to consider the possibility of generating at least part of your energy from your own sources. For a family or apartment building, this generally means reducing energy requirements first—for example, through insulation—and only then considering options such as installing your own photovoltaic system.

Households that are furthest ahead and generate more than they consume can then consider joining virtual power plants. In my view, Czechia still lacks greater incentives for this; again, there is considerable room for improvement, particularly in legislation.

And the third recommendation: deal with energy especially when it is not causing you concern. You can secure the best energy prices when you feel that you are “paying little”. Check offers from time to time, and if there is a better one elsewhere, do not be afraid to switch. This applies particularly to late spring and summer. That is when we are all swimming in the sea and have neither the time nor the inclination to think about energy. But it is also the time when markets are generally in their best shape. So it is a good time to look for a good offer.

How are you preparing for possible future energy crises or supply disruptions?

The world is of course becoming increasingly complex. But preparing for major energy challenges is primarily the role of the state and its authorities and institutions. We focus more on helping clients increase their self-sufficiency and energy security. As an energy group, TEDOM can rely not only on strong ESCO services, but also on technological know-how. Our service portfolio is quite broad, and we are expanding into more and more energy sectors.

The aim is greater stability and, precisely, protection against potential future crises. It is also certainly worth mentioning that our approach to hedging commercial positions is very conservative. We regularly hedge more than 90% and often more than 95% of our positions vis-à-vis customers.

How is your company preparing for the possible digitalisation of the energy sector, for example through the rollout of smart meters or involvement in smart grids?

We have long pointed out that Czechia is lagging behind. Spain and Italy have almost 100% smart meter coverage. In Italy, for example, one supplier offers customers a reward for disconnecting their household from the grid during specific hours. It is fascinating how far ahead other countries are.

The world is addressing the use of artificial intelligence to forecast and analyse big data from smart grids. And we take readings from old meters once a year. The pace of replacement with smart meters on the part of distribution network operators is sluggish and lax. This is merely an example of the priority given to more efficient energy use in Czechia.

However, we are ready to immediately incorporate these new benefits into offers for customers. We see what can be done with a smart meter. For owners of family homes, for instance, you can offer a de facto “turnkey energy solution”—we can take over all the concerns around optimisation, because we have precise data on how a house behaves and can make improvements with certainty.

Are you planning to offer new services, such as consumption management or data sharing with customers?

Today, we already do this to a certain extent for companies. But as legislation progresses, these possibilities will increasingly open up for ordinary households as well. Our vision is simple: to make energy supply a transparent matter that every household can understand.

Services from suppliers such as TEDOM will soon also include, for example, plans for the ongoing optimisation of consumption. In your monthly bill, you might then repay a battery or a photovoltaic power plant that you acquire “from the savings” made possible by them.

How do you view the trend towards community energy? Do you plan to offer customers specific solutions in this area?

Community energy in its current form is so far only an intermediate step. It too brings together the “old” centralised energy system and the decentralised one. For it to work as ordinary laypeople imagine, it will still require a great deal of time and legislation.

An example illustrates this best. Imagine that, as a consumer, you pay, say, 2,500 crowns for electricity under a long-term tariff. You would occasionally buy it from your neighbour for 2,000 crowns. But for traders, this creates a fundamentally more complicated situation. The electricity they had reserved for you must be sold more cheaply elsewhere. And they then cannot provide you with such a favourable standard tariff.

Nor is the “cheaper” electricity from your neighbour as cheap as it may seem. On the spot market, you would probably obtain it for half the price, without causing an imbalance for your supplier.

In any case, once step “B” is also in place, energy can be stored more effectively and the approach to distribution may change, then it will make sense.