Does the UK really have the most expensive electricity in Europe?

[SteamyTea]

As the question ends with a question mark, you know it does not

 

Here are the EU prices.

https://www.euronews.com/2026/06/01/germany-is-a-leader-in-renewables-so-why-does-it-have-one-of-the-highest-eu-electricity-pr

 

Below are the full EU rankings:

1. Ireland: €0.40
2. Germany: €0.39
3. Belgium: €0.35
4. Denmark: €0.33
5. Austria: €0.33
6. Czechia: €0.32
7. Italy: €0.30
8. Romania: €0.29
9. Cyprus: €0.28
10. Sweden: €0.27
11. Poland: €0.27
12. Spain: €0.27
13. Luxembourg: €0.27
14. France: €0.26
15. Netherlands: €0.26
16. Latvia: €0.25
17. Portugal: €0.24
18. Greece: €0.24
19. Estonia: €0.23
20. Finnland: €0.23
21. Slovenia: €0.21
22. Lithuania: €0.20
23. Slovakia: €0.19
24. Croatia: €0.17
25. Bulgaria: €0.14
26. Malta: €0.13
27. Hungary: €0.11

 

The UK is currently £0.24.67 with is €0.29/kWh.  The same as Romania.

https://energyguide.org.uk/average-cost-electricity-kwh-uk/

 

 

Edited 22 hours ago by SteamyTea

[JohnMo]

Pretty wide range of pricing there. 

[Ed_]

I think this is a devil is in the detail question.

 

EU data is H2 2025 whereas 24.67p is price cap now, so was a few p higher in the comparative period, say 32 euro cents. Still not most expensive.

 

I believe a lot of the shouting is about prices for industry which are not set in the same way as household prices. I have no idea where we stand on that measure and I'd imagine a serious international comparison is highly non trivial and well beyond journalists.

[jack]

What standing charges do EU countries have?

[jack]

Not clear from this how they work it out, but it appears the costs include everything:

 

 

Also, could this insane number possibly be right?:

 

 

I think the UK is on track to spend something like £1.5b on curtailment this year, which seems a lot. Could Germany really be spending nearly 300 times as much? 😶 

And that's down from €554b in 2024.

[HerbJ]

Real life electrical invoice for my apartment in Spain, West of Marbella.  See attached and salient points as folllows:

 

• We are with iBERDROLA, which owns Scottish Power
• Period 20/April to 20 May 2026
• Weather was OK so no heating/ac used in period
• Most of cost is for water heating - 8/9kWh/day
• TOU are basically obligatory in Spain for domestic customers - three charge rates, which  are shown as attached. Note low rate  for 24 hr Saturday and Sunday
• "Smart" Meters seem to obligatory for all consumers - you do not get a choice/ They work well and reliably. 
• It is a deregulated market, so you shop around for suppliers but it is not as easy or straightforward as UK, in my experience
• The bill identifies and details all charges.
• VAT was reduced at the start of the Iran conflict, from 21% to 10%
• The standing charges are based on your elected "Potentia", which is maximum kW Service that you require/choose, based on you expected peak load requirement. Our "Potentia" 9.7kW  and if exceed it the supply is cut-off and I think they charge you to reset it. Also, they will charge you to change it, up or down - about 35 euros from  memory

Happy reading

 

 

643986364_2026-05-27-17.00.20.010299_BH.pdf

[Mattg4321]

Yes it does and possibly the most expensive in the world when talking about industrial prices, which are what really matter most when it comes to the economy. 
 

https://www.ft.com/content/f3bcd4a4-0a5f-4fc1-ad8a-cf2530e6001a?syn-25a6b1a6=1

[MrSniff]

16 hours ago, jack said:

What standing charges do EU countries have?

For a 3 phase 40A supply in Luxembourg we paid €227 in fixed charges last year (here they are automatically indexed every year), so €0.622 per day. Average usage costs were €0.164/kWh, which is a lot cheaper than my UK bills...

[sgt_woulds]

12 hours ago, Mattg4321 said:

Yes it does and possibly the most expensive in the world when talking about industrial prices, which are what really matter most when it comes to the economy. 
 

https://www.ft.com/content/f3bcd4a4-0a5f-4fc1-ad8a-cf2530e6001a?syn-25a6b1a6=1

 

Since that article is behind a paywall, could you provide a summary or link to an alternative source?

[garrymartin]

16 hours ago, jack said:

Also, could this insane number possibly be right?:

Looks like it should have been millions not billions...

 

"Compensation costs for the curtailment of renewable energy fell by around 22 percent to 435 million euros in 2025, compared to the previous year (€554 million in 2024), showed a response from the German economy ministry to a question by Left Party parliamentarian Dietmar Bartsch, seen by CLEW." https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/renewable-curtailment-compensation-costs-germany-decrease-22-2025 and https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032118300091. The second link is interesting as it compares the UK and Germany.

[jack]

26 minutes ago, garrymartin said:

Looks like it should have been millions not billions...

 

"Compensation costs for the curtailment of renewable energy fell by around 22 percent to 435 million euros in 2025, compared to the previous year (€554 million in 2024), showed a response from the German economy ministry to a question by Left Party parliamentarian Dietmar Bartsch, seen by CLEW." https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/renewable-curtailment-compensation-costs-germany-decrease-22-2025 and https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032118300091. The second link is interesting as it compares the UK and Germany.

 

Thanks, that's much more like it. No way it could have been such a large number.

[jack]

1 hour ago, sgt_woulds said:

Since that article is behind a paywall, could you provide a summary or link to an alternative source?

 

https://archive.ph/sYtiH

[AliG]

I believe we have the highest industrial prices or thereabouts. As said that is important for the economy and our competitiveness.

 

But not the highest consumer prices.

 

Most of the complaining you hear on line is regarding consumer prices. The UK consumer price of electricity is close to the average of large Western European countries.

 

The recent 3.5p cut in electricity prices was due to the government taking on some subsidies and having them paid by the taxpayer. So what you were paying for electricity you may now be paying in tax.

 

In reality they only did this because these subsidies were close to coming to an end. The price of electricity would have fallen on its own, but they get to take the credit by bringing it a bit forward. Not taking a party political view, that is certainly a smart way to play it.

 

Money Saving Expert explains it well here. About a third of the saving is from the end of the Great British Insulation Scheme which was ending this year anyway. The other 2/3 is from the Renewables Obligation Scheme which was due to end in March 2029.

 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2025/11/energy-bill-cut-renewables-eco-martin-lewis/