Sofia in fifth place at low power prices

The most expensive is the current in Berlin - 33.77 euro cents per kilowatt-hour, in Copenhagen 30.53, and in London 24.99. The least households in Kiev pay — 4.98 cents, followed by Belgrade, Budapest, Podgorica and after them Sofia — with 11.70 euro cents. The average electricity price for the 27 EU countries is 18.97 cents and for Europe it is 18.01. The distinction is that electricity prices for households in Central and Eastern Europe are lower, with the exception of Prague and Warsaw, where they are above the average European ones.

Significantly changes the picture when the electricity price is calculated through the purchasing power of the population. The rearrangement puts households in Oslo, Amsterdam, Helsinki and Bern with the lowest power price. And the highest bills pay in Warsaw, Prague, Berlin, Budapest, Lisbon, Madrid. In this case, Sofia is ranked 11th in the ranking with a price over the purchasing power of 22 cents per kilowatt-hour. After her are London, Zagreb, Vilnius, Athens, Riga, even Vienna, Paris and Brussels.

An analysis of the structure of electricity prices according to production costs, fees, distribution and VAT is also made.

For Sofia the production costs are 61% of the price, the distribution goes 22 per cent, 0% energy charges and 17% share of VAT. The payment by Bulgarians of a fee “obligations to society” is not recorded as an energy tax, as it is included in the price of electricity. Besides Sofia with zero taxi is Budapest. In other countries in Europe, they are from 1 to 40 per cent.

These price breakdowns also see cases like Copenhagen, where the share of production costs is only 22% in price, while taxes are 40% - about three times the European average. If VAT is included, the rate of taxation becomes 60.

Similar is the situation in Berlin, where the energy tax is 36% of the cost of electricity for the final consumer. These levies relate to Germany's denial of atomic energy and coal.

Interesting is the structure of the price in Amsterdam, where from January 2020 a household consumer not only has zero energy tax, but also reimbursed money. The aim is to encourage consumers to electrification and shift from gas heating and appliances to electric.