As electricity prices continue to fall, interest in exchange-traded contracts is growing, according to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) market data.
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In the first quarter of this year, electricity prices continued to fall on the Nord Pool exchange. In April, the lowest monthly average price was reached – 23.52 euros / MWh. This is the lowest monthly average price since the launch of the Nord Pool exchange in 2013.
A similar situation with the decrease in the stock exchange price was also observed in the neighboring countries, PUC explained. At the end of the 1st quarter of this year, the exchange price for electricity consumers in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia was approximately 40% lower than at the end of the 1st quarter of 2019.
In the first quarter of this year, a wider range of users benefited from the reduction in stock exchange prices. Interest of household users in variable price contracts increased to 11.81%, while among legal users they already reached 41.86%. However, the most popular choice among household users was still the fixed price contracts chosen by 55.21% of households.
According to PUC data, the weighted average electricity price for households decreased to 55.70 euros / MWh in March this year, while for legal users to 43.95 euros / MWh. Compared to March 2019, the price for households has decreased by 2.01%, but for legal users – by 3.45%.
According to the regulator, the decrease in prices was mainly influenced by weather conditions and the decrease in electricity consumption.
“We see that even after the gradual easing of the restrictions related to Covid-19, the demand for electricity is still about 5% lower than last year. At the same time, the supply on the stock exchange is decreasing, as in the summer most of the annual maintenance and upkeep works of power plants are performed. As a result, prices on the stock exchange are currently highly volatile, depending on how much production capacity is being serviced at the same time, ”said Jānis Negribs, Head of the PUC Market Surveillance Department.
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