Electricity bills will be higher in 2026
- The capacity fee will increase in 2026 for all consumer groups.
- The annual cost of the capacity market in 2025 will reach PLN 6.4 billion.
- Old coal-fired units benefit from the capacity market.
The President of the Energy Regulatory Office ( URE ) , Renata Mroczek, published the net capacity fee rates for 2026.
Increase in capacity fee ratesThese rates are as follows:
- - PLN 4.29 per month – for end users billed on a flat-rate basis who consume less than 500 kWh of electricity annually. In 2025, this rate will be PLN 2.86.
- - PLN 10.31 per month – for end users billed on a flat-rate basis, consuming between 500 kWh and 1,200 kWh of electricity annually. In 2025, this rate will be PLN 6.86.
- - PLN 17.18 per month – for end-users billed on a flat-rate basis, consuming between 1,200 and 2,800 kWh of electricity annually. In 2025, this rate will be PLN 11.44.
- - PLN 24.05 per month – for end users billed on a flat-rate basis, consuming more than 2,800 kWh of electricity annually. In 2025, this rate will be PLN 16.01.
All the above rates will be paid by individual customers.
For business customers, the capacity rate in 2026 will be PLN 0.2194 per kWh. In 2025, this fee will be PLN 0.1412 per kWh – an increase of 55.4%.
Capacity fee mechanismThe Energy Regulatory Office explains that the capacity fee is one of the items visible on electricity bills from 2021, as a consequence of the Capacity Market Act adopted in 2017, which introduced a mechanism for rewarding energy producers for their readiness to supply power to the grid.
The main justification for introducing this fee was the need to ensure the stability and security of electricity supply. One of the beneficiaries of the capacity market are old coal-fired units that operate when renewable sources are unable to operate.
Capacity market costsThe report of the President of the Energy Regulatory Office for 2024 shows that the annual costs of the capacity market in the years 2021-2029 will always significantly exceed PLN 5 billion.
In 2023, the cost of the capacity market borne by consumers amounted to PLN 5.3 billion, in 2024 it increased to over PLN 6.1 billion net, and in 2025 it is expected to reach PLN 6.4 billion.
He has one of the longest tenures among the journalists at the PTWP Group. He has been covering the energy and commodity markets broadly for years, but is also familiar with the ins and outs of other industries, which we cover on WNP.PL. In his free time, he collects publications about the Polish Brethren (also known as Arians), having managed to amass one of the largest such collections in Poland. He periodically presents the most interesting exhibits publicly in museums and at various cultural and historical events.
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