On September 27, 2022, the National Council of the Slovak Republic (parliament) approved an amendment to the Act on Energy, which responds to the current serious crisis in the electricity markets.

Electricity prices on the market have been increasing by leaps and bounds since the beginning of summer 2022 in response to a significant increase in the related market price of natural gas. Wholesale prices of electricity and gas directly affect the formation of retail prices of electricity, which have an impact on ensuring the basic living needs of population.

The aim of the amendment is to introduce legislative changes necessary for the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic to adopt measures to ensure the safety, regularity, quality and price of electricity and gas supplies for households in the Slovak Republic, and thus prevent the negative impact of the high increase in the price of electricity and gas on the most vulnerable consumers of electricity, namely household consumers.

In the case of vulnerable consumers, reflecting the current level of the market price of electricity and gas in the regulated prices would mean an extreme increase compared to the present price, while a large number of households may fall into the so-called energy poverty. There is a significant risk that the share of households that will not be able to pay their obligations either as advance payments or energy bills will increase significantly.