Electricity: 21% wholesale price hike in August

The wholesale price of electricity in Greece recorded a 21% increase in August 2026, reaching €133.40 per megawatt-hour from €109.95 in July, according to data presented by Oikonomikos Tahydromos. The upward trend was confirmed on Tuesday 1 September, when the daily price exceeded €174 per megawatt-hour, according to the same publication — that is, nearly €40 above August’s average in just a few days. This jump opens, as ekriti.gr notes, a second front of price increases for Greek households and businesses, immediately after recent fuel price hikes, and comes at a time when electricity consumption remains elevated due to high temperatures in early autumn.

Behind the increase lies the situation in the European natural gas market, the fuel that largely determines the marginal price in the wholesale electricity market. Natural gas storage in the European Union stands at just 63%, versus a five-year average of 80% for the same period of the year — a level representing the lowest in the past 13 years, according to ekriti.gr. This shortfall in storage levels, just months before the period of increased heating demand, is considered by analysts a source of additional pressure on prices. The same analysts warn that natural gas prices may reach €100 per megawatt-hour by winter, a development expected to feed directly into electricity generation costs, given that Greece’s electricity price is closely tied to natural gas costs.

Facing this development, electricity suppliers are examining whether to absorb part of the additional cost or pass it on to consumers through billing, according to Oikonomikos Tahydromos. Meanwhile, DEH is preparing special intervention to cushion impacts on its customers, while the government is expected to announce support measures at the Thessaloniki International Fair, the traditional platform for presenting economic policy each September. For households and small businesses across the country, this development adds to existing pressures from fuels, with the possibility of new electricity bill increases being a major concern as autumn and winter approach. More economy stories track the trajectory of price increases across sectors throughout Greece.

The key question remains how long the upward trend will last and how natural gas prices will move in the coming period, as European storage levels stand at historic lows for the season, according to data cited by ekriti.gr. The announcement of measures by the government at the Thessaloniki Fair is expected to clarify whether there will be state support for consumers, while the stance taken by suppliers and DEH’s intervention will largely determine electricity bill levels in the coming months. Until then, the two publications of Tuesday 1 September converge on the same conclusion: the energy market enters autumn with heightened uncertainty, both for electricity and natural gas.