By Patryk Wasilewski
WARSAW--Poland's energy regulator URE expects to cut electricity
prices for households by about 4%-5%, the regulator's head said
Thursday, with decisions regarding other utility companies likely
to follow soon.
Mr. Marek Woszczyk said the regulator had already cut prices for
Tauron Polska Energia (TPE.WA), the country's second-largest
producer, and will soon decide prices for PGE (PGE.WA), Enea SA
(ENA.WA) and Energa.
"Tauron prices will be cut by 4-5% [...] three other companies
are still negotiating but I expect similar decisions to the one I
made yesterday," Mr. Woszczyk told TVN CNBC news channel.
Due to the country's ongoing economic slowdown, wholesale
electricity market prices declined significantly last year but
individual clients, whose prices are set by the state regulator,
had not yet benefited from the decrease.
Electricity price cuts are expected to increase pressure on
inflation in coming months, countering rises in some other areas of
administration-set prices, such as trash removal services.
Societe Generale economist Jaroslaw Janecki said the regulator's
decision is likely to take off 0.1%-0.2% off the consumer price
index once it is implemented.
Poland's inflation has rapidly slowed over the last 12 months,
reaching 0.8% in April from around 4% in mid-2012 and the central
bank's head Marek Belka said Wednesday further deceleration is
still possible.
Write to Patryk Wasilewski at patryk.wasilewski@dowjones.com