EDP Comercial will increase the price of gas for families by an average of 30 euros per month plus fees and taxes, starting in October due to rising prices in international markets and after a year without updates.
In an interview with Lusa, EDP Comercial Executive President Vera Pinto Pereira announced the decision to raise the gas price by “an average of 30 euros in household bills”, which increases by “five to seven euro fees”. and taxes.”
For approximately 433,300 (two-thirds) of the 650,000 households that represent the lowest consumption, the gas price increase will have an average impact of €18 per month before taxes and fees, i.e. an increase of about €22.
EDP Comercial justified its decision by rising gas prices on international markets in recent months, a situation aggravated by the war in Ukraine and restrictions on the supply of Russian gas, which also raised prices in other markets, such as gas from Algeria.
“This is something that has grown over the past few months, despite the fact that EDP has kept the price conditions for end users,” said Vera Pinto Pereira.
However, he continued, “after 12 months, given this scenario in the international market, in an international context, when we buy gas that we supply to Portuguese families, this price update has become inevitable.”
“The gas price set 12 months ago, without any changes during the year, was very important even compared to other market proposals, because it allowed us to save a little, but, a year later, given the new context, we are not producing gas , we have to buy it in the market – we have to do it [a subida nos mercados grossistas]”, – said the executive president.
The new prices come into force on October 1 and, unlike the usual ones, will be valid not for a year, but for three months.
“In exceptional cases, we are currently going to make changes, and the goal is to track the correction of this market trend as soon as possible,” the official explained, stressing that the price may be revised in the near future. end of three months, up or down.
Vera Pinto Pereira stressed that the company is making “every effort to ensure that the adjustment is downward”, guaranteeing the stability of gas supplies to customers and continuing to work on supplies, achieving better conditions in the markets where they buy the material. -cousin.
Asked if she expects understanding from clients, Vera Pinto Pereira stressed the importance of “providing as much contextual information as possible” in emails sent to clients “so that they can understand what’s going on and understand that EDP has nothing to gain from this situation.”
“Our main concern is the end consumer and Portuguese families, and therefore we will try to fix this as soon as possible,” the executive president emphasized.
The official also dismissed fears of losing customers to competition. “The market is free, and so I think this is part of it,” he said.
The company also noted the ability of customers who have difficulty paying their bills to request payment plans to pay in stages.
Since the last update made by EDP Comercial, for the gas year valid until September 30, which affected household bills from six to 19 cents, the price of this raw material in the wholesale markets has increased by 1000%, which is, multiply by 10.
Natural gas prices for consumers on the regulated market will also increase 3.9% month-on-month in October, the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE) said in June.
Thus, on October 1, there will be an increase of 8.2% for 2022-2023 compared to the previous year (2021-2022), EPCE reported, noting that “taking into account the renewal of electricity tariffs during 2022, consumers in regulated market in October 2022 will see an average growth of 3.9% compared to the previous month.”
These updates relate to sales tariffs for the domestic segment (consumption less than or equal to 10,000 m3/year) which are still on the regulated market.
In July, prices also updated, increasing by 3.3%. Thus, as of last month, the bill of a couple without children with an annual consumption of 138 m3 increased by 0.33 euros, while for a couple with two children (annual consumption of 292 m3), the average increase is 0.70 euros. According to ERSE, in October in the first case there is an increase of 0.48 euros, and in the second – an average of 0.87 euros compared to September.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
