The full price paid for household electricity grew by 25.1 percent in 2021, while the cost for homes heated by electricity increased by 35.3 percent. Electric energy rose sharply in price, but distribution rates showed a slight decline last year.
A sharp increase in wholesale market prices for electricity came late last year especially for new electricity contracts – the prices of new ongoing contracts for households rose by 48.3 percent, and for households with electric heating, they went up by as much as 108.5 percent. The prices of new two-year fixed-term contracts rose by 77.6 percent, and by 84 percent for those with electric heating. Obligation to deliver prices also increased sharply: 59.7 percent for households, and 72.8 percent for users of electric heating.
The taxable distribution rates for electricity for household users fell by an average 0.7 percent, and for users of electric heating, by 0.8 percent. Thirteen out of a total of 77 network operators raised their distribution rates during the year, and another 13 cut their rates. The reductions were 2-17 percent.
Changes in how distribution rates that took effect at the beginning of 2002 are monitored are first expected to be felt in the distribution rates for customers in urban areas. Reasonable profit for distribution companies will decline by about EUR 290 million in 2022 because of the change in the model for monitoring.
Big price shifts within a single day
The wholesale market prices of electricity rose considerably around Europe after the summer: the regional price in Finland went up by 158 percent last year. Fluctuation in hourly prices within a day continued to increase. Key reasons for the sharp rise in prices in the autumn have been the low water reserves in the Nordic Countries and the sharp rise in the prices of natural gas and coal. The cost of the emissions allowance, which had been going up at an even pace throughout the year, rose a total of 146 percent.
Limited distribution capacity boosted price differences between the bidding areas of the wholesale market, but the regional prices in Finland and Central Sweden were more similar than before.
Electricity consumption, domestic production, and net imports reverted to their pre-pandemic levels last year. Imported electricity accounted for a quarter of domestic consumption, net imports from Russia grew significantly, and imports from Sweden decreased.
Further information:
- Director General Simo Nurmi, tel. +358 29 5050 011
- Markets: Deputy Director General Antti Paananen, tel. +358 29 5050 013
- Networks: Deputy Director General Veli-Pekka Saajo, tel. +358 29 5050 023
e-mail addresses: [email protected]
