Article from Dansk Fjernvarme | September 2022 | The vast majority of consumers at the district heating companies will experience a limited increase. At the same time, a few will see a significant price increase, shows a new study from Dansk Fjernvarme.
Dansk Fjernvarme has asked its members what heating price they currently expect entering January 2023. 131 companies expect to either lower the price or keep it essentially unchanged compared to the price in August 2022. This corresponds to a total of 1.16 million consumers, or 75 percent of the district heating customers represented in the survey. 106 companies expect to raise the price of district heating. Among the 106 companies, however, there is a big difference in how much they expect to raise the price.
29 district heating companies expect a price of DKK 26,000 or more for a standard house by January 2023. The 29 companies supply district heating to approximately 70,000 homes.
– The Danish district heating companies are generally affected by the rising prices for gas and electricity and wood chips and pellets. In that light, it is positive that the majority of district heating customers, in contrast to the individual gas customers, are only to a lesser extent affected by rising prices, according to the political head of Dansk Fjernvarme, Rune Moesgaard, who continues:
– This is because district heating can use many different energy sources, such as excess heat, sustainable biomass, solar heat, waste energy, and others, and is therefore not dependent on one source, such as gas or electricity. Thus, they are more robust and better able to keep prices stable than the many homeowners utterly reliant on natural gas or electricity.
EU price ceiling on electricity threatens.
However, some consumers will experience rising prices, and a significant number will experience their prices rising significantly.
In total, approximately 400,000 consumers will be affected by increases of more than 10 percent, and of these, approx. 70,000 now experience that the price of district heating will be more than 26,000 per year. It is a difficult situation, which a possible new electricity tax will only worsen, says the trade association.
– The EU Commission has announced a ceiling on the price of electricity. The new, higher earnings in the non-profit district heating companies are used to keep district heating prices low. It can be compared to the district heating consumers holding their hand under the electricity system all the years we have had low electricity prices. If we no longer get that option, it will be hard on district heating customers, and many more will experience significant price increases for heating their homes, says Rune Moesgaard.
Translated from the Danish District Heating Association