Electricity prices in international markets have risen to new highs. For example, merchants paid more than 1,000 euros per megawatt-hour for German electricity on Monday for the first time ever. French electricity already exceeded 1,000 euros on Friday.

By way of comparison: merchants paid just 200 euros for a megawatt-hour of German and French electricity at the beginning of the year. Both prices are seen as indicative of the overall European electricity market.

An important reason for the increase is that Russia still supplies Europe with little natural gas. Gas is often used to generate electricity. Another factor is that French nuclear power plants produce less electricity. Many power plants are undergoing maintenance, but this is taking longer than planned. In addition, river waters are much warmer – due to the dry and warm summer – and therefore are less able to cool power plants.

Some consumers do not immediately notice the high price of electricity circulation. It highly depends on the type of contract you have with your power supplier.

For example, a person with an ongoing contract will not have to deal with higher prices right away. But many families who have a variable contract or have recently reached the end of their perpetual contract may already be feeling this in their portfolios.

In fact, the price of gas fell sharply

Gas prices have also risen significantly recently. Remarkably, the price fell sharply on Monday morning. The price fell more than 15 percent before the fair to 286 euros per megawatt-hour. Since then, gas has fallen further to less than 280 euros.

The reason for the decline is the news that Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has filled its gas reserves faster than expected. The drop was a welcome change from the steady rise in gas prices in recent weeks, which is also starting to hurt more and more households.