In 2024, Slovenia will implement a new way of calculating network charges. State monopolies are hoping for more revenue, which they say is vital for a more climate-just country. However, the critical public is not convinced – it believes that the system will be unfair to smaller electricity consumers.
“In short, those of you who use little electricity will pay for the grid renewal needed by those with heat pumps and e-cars. This is called the green transition fairness,” wrote former minister Žiga Turk in response to the announced changes.
The Energy Agency of the Republic of Slovenia writes that the new network tariffs, with greater time differentiation, stronger price signals and the gradual introduction of additional charging for excess power, will encourage consumers to use the network more efficiently or to adjust their consumption.
The new system will introduce a number of different “blocks”, within which prices will vary according to the load on the network. When the load is highest, the price will be highest and vice versa. Blocks will also be set separately for high and low seasons, the newspaper Dnevnik reports. The high season will be during the cold months (November, December, January, February). The highest price block will only be applied during the high season.
Behind the obscure complications of “price signals”, there are, of course, new price increases, but not at the expense of energy itself, but of the network and the cables you have had for decades.
“Otherwise, it makes sense. The network charge per kWh has gone down, the network charge per kW has gone up a lot. So: if someone consumes very little electricity (little kWh), but only occasionally consumes a lot (a lot of kW), the person will pay much more than they do now,” was the brief assessment of Sebastian, a social media user commenting on the upcoming changes. The same user has also produced an online calculator for the new prices, which you can access here: https://plesko.si/elektr/omreznina/
The start of the new billing system has been delayed. It will not come into force on the 1st of March 2024, as initially foreseen, but only on the 1st of July 2023.
Ž. K.
