Szilard Nemeth, Hungary's government commissioner in charge of the utility price cap scheme, provided details. Even during the current energy crisis, the government is protecting the utility cost cut scheme which means a monthly savings of 181 thousand forints, or over two million forints annually (approx 153 and 5437 euros respectively) for Hungarian households with average consumption, the Origo portal writes.

On 13 July, the government declared a state of energy emergency in Hungary and a 7-point package of measures entered into force. One of the measures concerns the so-called household utility price cuts scheme, which is unique in Europe. Under the scheme, Hungarian families have been paying officially regulated tariffs for electricity and gas since 2013.

The reduced tariffs will remain in place on the portion of household total consumption not exceeding the average, ie. using up to 144 cubic metres of gas and 210 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month, Szilard Nemeth, Hungary’s government commissioner in charge of the utility price cap scheme, told a press conference on 21 July.

A new tariff, called household market price, which is lower than the competitive market price, will apply to the portion of energy consumption beyond the average amount. This price is 70 forints (0.175 euros) per kilowatt of electricity and 747 forints (1.86 euros) per cubic metre of natural gas,

the politician said, emphasizing that the going market price of electricity is 268.9 forints/KWh (0.69 euros), whereas that of gas is 1020 forints/m3 (2.54 euros).

The Hungarian portal Origo writes that even in the current energy crisis, the government is protecting the utility cost cuts cuts, which means a savings of 181,101 forints per month or 2,174,829 forints per year (approx 153 and 5,437 euros respectively) for Hungarian households with average consumption.

As for the night tariff, the price cap per kilowatt-hour for the portion of consumption not exceeding the discounted amount will be at 23.1 forints (0.058 euros), with a price of 62.9 forints (0.16 euros) for the consumption above that. The regulation does not apply to households with heat pumps, in their case the original tariff remains regardless of consumption level.

Mr Nemeth also confirmed that the favourable gas consumption allowance will continue for large families. For a family with three children, the threshold for the discounted gas price will be 600 cubic meters higher, while larger families will receive a further allowance of 300 cubic metres for each additional child.