The main mystery for the inhabitants of Greece: what is the cheapest source of energy this year

Natural gas or heating oil? Air conditioning or electric heater? Fireplace or pellets? It is these questions that “torment” Greek consumers in anticipation of a difficult winter.

With gas and oil price races driving up the cost of electricity, consumers are facing serious dilemmas as to the most economical means of heating to meet their needs this winter, which is expected to be particularly harsh.

With current data, a comparison can be made. However, no one can predict with certainty how the price of gas and oil will develop in a month or two. The only “safe” option at the moment is government intervention to reduce energy consumption.

According to current data, those who use electricity as a source of heating seem to be benefiting, at least compared to last year. This may seem ironic as the wholesale price has jumped to 700 euros per MWh today, but the government subsidy is such that, at least in September, the retail price can be kept below 15 cents. Therefore, electricity currently appears to be a good alternative for heating, provided the government continues to support households and businesses.

For gas, the situation is “explosive”. The retail price of a kilowatt-hour may even jump to 30 cents if there is no government subsidy, since this is now the wholesale price on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The 700,000 families that converted their boilers to gas will have to wait to see what the subsidy policy will be this winter. The €30 donations that were given last year will be a drop in the ocean this year.

As for heating oil, if nothing fundamentally changes in the near future, the retail price for fuel oil will be in the range of 1.6-1.7 euros per liter. This means that, especially in Northern Greece and in the coldest (including mountainous) regions of the country, heating costs will rise sharply. Recall that last year the season began with a price of 1.16 euros.

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