No marketing gimmicks or consumption magic. What can really reduce your electricity bills is reading contracts carefully.
Energy prices have been going up in recent years and probably won’t stop anytime soon. In addition to saving and trying to reduce consumption, it is also good to know if you are overpaying them because of a poorly configured contract. Not because the provider wants to screw you over, but because a different setup might be more suitable for you. However, knowing contracts is not rocket science. You just need to know what to look for and know a few terms.
Standard price list
It is definitely the most widely used option for setting up a contract. And also the most comfortable. It is usually chosen by those who do not want to deal too much with the current price of energy. With the standard price list, you can easily be taken care of for two or three years in advance. However, a fixed or permanent contract can make a big difference.
In the first case, you leave everything largely up to the supplier and his ability to secure a good price. You can’t influence it much yourself. In the case of an indefinite-term contract, the rates are not fixed in any way and the supplier can change them if necessary. The advantage is the possibility to move elsewhere at any time, the disadvantage is the statutory three-month notice period. This means that if, for example, you decide to leave on February 15 due to a significant price increase, you still have to expect a higher price for the whole of March, April and May.
“On the other hand, with a fixed-term contract with a fixed price, you are sure that you will pay exactly what you agreed on with the supplier. You then do not have to worry about prices at all for a period of two or three years. On the other hand, it is good to choose carefully with whom you conclude such a long contract. The price differences between the offers can be significant and it is difficult to leave the fixed-term contract. That is why it pays to use a price comparator and compare the individual offers. This way you can easily find out where you can save the most,” recommends Lukáš Kaňok from .
Spot price list
It is a price list where the price depends on the current situation on the energy exchange. Every upward or downward price fluctuation is thus immediately reflected in the price for the customer. It can be very advantageous, but only if you also have an adequately equipped household for it – especially a smart electricity meter and at least some other elements. The smart electricity meter works with fifteen-minute intervals, in which the exchange price changes, and thus the price of the electricity you consume at that moment.
“If you add smart home equipment to that, you can control consumption according to current prices,” explains Lukáš Kaňok. “For example, the heating of the boiler will only start when the price of electricity drops below the set level, while at high rates, the operation of the freezer or other energy-intensive appliances will be temporarily limited. Of course, in such a way that it does not disrupt their functionality, but at the same time, maximum savings are made.”
But if you don’t have a smart electricity meter or a smart home, spot price lists lose most of their advantages. One then only works with the average price for a certain period, typically with monthly readings. Exchange prices are averaged for the given month and you, as a customer, pay this value. The problem arises when, for example, within just a few days the price on the stock exchange jumps significantly and thus affects the average for the whole month. The spot price list will then become much more expensive. And it doesn’t matter whether you used electricity on those days, what appliances were running or whether you were at home at all.
Monthly price list
Monthly price lists work similarly. The difference is that you don’t wait for the stock market average, but you choose a supplier in advance according to the price set for the following month. On the one hand, you can get relatively attractive rates, especially in the summer months. Then consumption is lower and suppliers can “sell out” electricity.
“Therefore, many customers choose a monthly price list in the summer and switch to a contract for an indefinite period during the winter,” says the expert. Although these contracts are not among the cheapest, in the heating season they still work out a bit better, at least compared to the monthly price lists. “However, it is not a solution for everyone, and even here you are not sure that it will pay off in the long term. However, if you are one of the customers who regularly monitor prices and want to actively pay attention to them, it may make sense,” says Lukáš Kaňok. At the same time, it depends a lot on your willingness to change suppliers often and to play with price lists. And based on that, you should choose which variant of the contract is suitable for you.
Are you at risk of price fluctuations?
No one can predict with certainty what will happen in three months, let alone a year or two. Nevertheless, when choosing a suitable price list, it is good to create at least a basic picture thanks to the available estimates. “We are living in an uncertain period, and a significant reduction in electricity prices is unlikely to come. Energy prices react not only to growth in demand – that’s why they are higher during the heating season – but also to geopolitical events,” explains Lukáš Kaňok. “Therefore, it is safer to expect further price fluctuations than to blindly trust that prices will not change. Electricity may also become more expensive due to the planned decommissioning of coal-fired power plants. Coal will be replaced by gas, which will also increase its price. And since energy prices are interconnected, when gas becomes more expensive, the price of electricity produced from it logically also increases.”
You could find this article in the magazine Recipe No. 05/26.
