Electricity futures prices for the beginning of the year rose by more than 50 percent in October, citing the breakage of the Balticconnector pipe and the re-inflamed situation in the Middle East. However, when trading at just under seven cents for January-March was almost 9.5 cents in mid-October, a significant decrease was observed in electricity futures prices on November 16th.

According to Energiateollisuus ry’s director responsible for the electricity market Pekka Salomaa, future prices are not reliable forecasts but rather indicate at what price protections are made for that particular moment. He cautions that while fluctuations in electricity prices will continue in the future, they have decreased significantly compared to previous years. Currently, Finland’s electricity supply situation is much better than it was a year ago.

The price of stock exchange electricity has been quite high considering the time of year and temperature over the past few weeks. During the third week of November (November 11-17), the average price of electricity on the exchange was more than ten cents on most days, with a daily average price of no less than sixteen cents per kilowatt hour on Thursday 16th November. The price of exchange electricity did not drop significantly even at night when it should have been cheaper.

Salomaa advises consumers to be wary of fixed electricity contracts without a consumption effect as they may not always be financially beneficial in the long term due to risk premiums charged by energy companies for their uncertainty about when customers consume their electricity.