Gov't to enhance electricity bill support for households, smaller firms

Poland's cabinet has decided to expand preferable pricing conditions for electricity bills paid by households, small firms and vulnerable entities.

At its Monday meeting, the government approved a draft amendment to the 2022 law freezing electricity prices for households and vulnerable recipients in 2023 by extending the cap of consumption for households and lowering a maximum price for small firms.

The basic cap on energy consumption for households is to be increased from 2,000 kWh to 3,000 kWh in 2023 and for large families and farmers to 4,000 kWh.

"The drafted provisions also assume that as of October 1, vulnerable entities such us local governments and small and medium firms will be covered with a lower maximum (price - PAP) cap for electricity," Anna Moskwa, the minister of climate and environment told PAP after the meeting.

The maximum price for such entities will stand at PLN 693 (EUR 156) per 1,000 kWh, which is currently the case for households. This will constitute a drop of 12 percent from today's PLN 785 (EUR 176.50) per 1,000 kWh for local governments, schools and hospitals as well as small and medium-sized firms.

Poland's parliament passed the original caps on electricity bills in late 2022 in response to soaring electricity prices following the war in Ukraine and increased global demand for energy commodities as economic activity picked up after the slump caused by the coronavirus crisis.