Slovenia caps electricity, gas prices for public institutions

The Slovenian government on Thursday capped electricity and gas prices for public institutions for the whole year of 2023, to ease the burden of the energy crisis on the country.

The maximum retail electricity price will be fixed at 0.207 euro (0.219 U.S. dollars) per kilowatt hour for the day rate, 0.1485 euro for the night rate and 0.186 euro (excluding VAT) for the single tariff. Meanwhile, the maximum retail price for natural gas will be 0.095 euro per kilowatt hour, the government said, adding that the caps will be valid from Jan. 1 until Dec. 31, 2023.

The caps will be valid for schools, care homes for the elderly, public agencies and other public institutions.

Also on Thursday the government decided to inject 170 million euros into the state-owned electricity distributor Eles, to enable it to buy the amount of electricity required to ensure a stable supply in Slovenia. Earlier this month, the government injected 500 million euros into HSE, another state-owned energy firm.

Earlier this year, the government capped electricity and gas prices for households and small businesses. It plans to spend about 1.2 billion euros in 2023 to help companies overcome the energy crisis (1 euro= 1.06 U.S. dollars).