How consumers choose cheaper electricity – The pitfalls in the ‘fine print’

“Consumers should be aware that from August 1 to July 31, 2023, fundamental changes have taken place in the retail electricity market,” said Panagiotis Georgiadis, a spokesman for the Consumer Institute.

As he mentioned speaking to ERT, these changes are the following:

– The monthly fixed charge cannot exceed 5 euros

– It is prohibited to grant discounts linked to the wholesale market

– The readjustment clause has been suspended for 12 months, which means that consumers have the possibility, without any charge, to change electricity provider.

However, Mr Georgiadis appealed to consumers to read the “fine print” in the contracts they sign.

He drew the attention of consumers to the fact that the electricity provider does not “baptize” the government subsidy in the contract as a discount, thereby attracting the customer.

As far as the fixed amount is concerned, any provider who exceeds the ceiling of 5 euros will be considered illegal and this action will be subject to the Consumer Protection Act. The consumer will be able to proceed with a complaint and then the Competition Commission will take over the issue.

In addition, he called on consumers to be aware of cases where energy providers offer low competitive charges but with a high fixed fee, which the consumer may not notice.

Mr. Georgiadis also noted that some providers announce a low fixed price, but for a specific period of time and not for the entire duration of the 12-month contract.

According to Mr. Georgiadis, a trap in the choice of the energy provider is some offers, which link the prices of the kilowatt hour to the consumption. As he said, if there is a threshold that consumers go over, then they will be charged for the total consumption they did, with the highest fee exceeding that threshold.

Energy providers tend to associate lower pricing with consistent payment, which is not illegal, provided the consumer is not misled.