The municipal energy supplier Wien Energie earned well again in 2023. Although turnover fell by 21.4 percent to 4.67 billion euros, annual profit increased by 54.9 percent to 598.1 million euros. Group management now promises price adjustments.
“We are on a good basis financially,” Wien Energie boss Michael Strebl said at a press conference on Friday. The energy supplier wants to fully invest the good result in price reductions, security of supply and sustainable energy.
Wholesale prices are falling
Energy markets have calmed down somewhat over the past year, but the situation remains tense and volatile, Strebl said, pointing to geopolitical uncertainties, especially regarding the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. “The geopolitical situation remains uncertain and market fluctuations are still there,” said the chairman of Wien-Energie’s management. Wholesale prices have fallen, but have still not reached pre-energy crisis levels.
For 2024, Strebl announced: “We are passing on our results, mainly in three areas, to relief measures for our customers, ensuring security of supply and green investments.” Accordingly, an investment program of 502 million euros is planned for the current year, the money will flow into renewable electricity and heat generation or district cooling.
Focus on district heating
Another 100 million euros will be invested in the accelerated expansion of district heating in Vienna. A total of 350 million euros must be passed on to customers: 149 million euros of this has already been announced in 2023 and now affects profits, 140 million euros is reserved for the continuation of district heating discounts, 50 million euros is for offers in the electricity and gas sector and 12 million euros intended for a social package.
Wien Energie plans to reduce electricity and gas prices in the summer. According to the current state of affairs, customers with the ‘Optima Relaxed’ rate who did not switch to a new rate last year will have to pay 55 percent less for electricity and 22 percent less for gas from July. Anyone who switched to the new rate last year will have to pay six percent less for electricity and 9.5 percent less for gas from July. In the future, electricity must cost 14.9 cents net per kilowatt hour, gas 5.7 cents.
Adjustments are made automatically
“In this case, customers don’t need to do anything proactively,” Strebl said. Last year, price reductions were passed on to consumers, not only at Wie Energie, mainly through discounts, on the grounds that contracts cannot be changed unilaterally even if prices are reduced.
Now things are different: the planned price reductions come about because the indices on which the contract is based have fallen. “The indices would not have reflected these discounts that we passed on to our customers last year. That is why we have worked with discounts,” Strebl explains. Decreases in wholesale prices are visible in the relevant indices, such as the Austrian Electricity Price Index (ÖSPI), with a lag of about one year.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
