Czechia: from 1 January 2026 RES support fully from the budget, bills without the POZE charge

The Czech energy regulator ERÚ issued on 29 December 2025 an amended list of regulated electricity prices for 2026, in which the component for support of renewable sources (POZE) is zero for all customers. This follows from a government resolution of 16 December 2025, under which all operating support for renewable sources is financed from 2026 by the state budget. This also applies to Czech biogas plants and biomass power plants.

What changed

By the end of November ERÚ was required by law to issue the original regulated prices for 2026. They assumed a budget subsidy for POZE of 24.6 billion crowns and about 17.1 billion crowns that customers would cover through the POZE charge, which forms part of the regulated electricity price. The government, after taking office, decided to increase the subsidy so that it covers the whole cost of support. On the same day ERÚ began the mandatory consultation on the draft amendment, and after it ended it issued the new prices still in 2025, so that the lower rates would apply from 1 January 2026.

The total cost of operating support for 2026 under the assumptions of the original decision is therefore about 41.7 billion crowns (24.6 + 17.1 billion).

Effect on customers

The POZE charge for households was 495 Kč/MWh excluding VAT and made up a significant part of the regulated price. After it was zeroed, average regulated prices fell:

For an example detached house (cooking, hot water and heating) the regulated component falls from 1643 to 1198 Kč/MWh, i.e. by 27.1%. The falls in average prices (e.g. 420 Kč/MWh for low voltage, 388–445 Kč/MWh in the household examples) are smaller than the POZE charge of 495 Kč/MWh, because ERÚ gives average changes in the whole regulated charge for groups of customers, and not the charge alone. The ERÚ chairman Jan Šefránek stressed that it is important for the fall to be lasting and not to cause large fluctuations in subsequent years.

What this means for biogas and biomass generators

The change concerns the source of funding, not the rates paid to generators. Czech biogas plants that entered the support system still benefit from guaranteed prices or green bonuses for the duration of the support period, and the money flows from the budget instead of from customers' bills. For a biogas generator this means that the rates have not changed, and the source of payments is now the state budget.

For the state budget the change means a considerable burden: support for all renewable sources, not just biogas, now goes into public spending and will compete with other items. For generators the practical conclusion is that payment of support now depends directly on funds provided in the budget, and not on income from charges on customers; this is a different risk from before, and not an additional guarantee.

Converted, 495 Kč/MWh is about EUR 20 per MWh at an exchange rate of about 24.3 Kč per euro (indicative, end of 2025).