Energy costs are crippling industry and putting an enormous burden on households across the bloc.Continue reading
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán answered questions from opposition MPs in Parliament on Wednesday afternoon. Several questions touched on energy.
Asked about wind energy, the prime minister said that solar and wind energy are the two most expensive forms of energy, as the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow, so energy has to be bought to run the system and maintain the voltage needed to supply energy to the grid. “One unit of energy is produced and one is bought, doubling the price,” he said.
He added that the government is convinced (not without reason), that without the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant, cheap energy cannot be made available to industry and the population.
When asked about gas prices, Orbán pointed to a recent Eurostat report which showed that energy prices had risen in twenty-three of the twenty-four Member States since the first half of 2021, with Hungary alone not having seen any increase.
The prime minister said that the policy of reducing utility costs is a good one, pointing out that it could protect families, even at the current price level. He said that the majority of Hungarian families fall into the protected category up to 100 percent of their consumption. He added that under the cost utility reduction program, every Hungarian family receives a monthly subsidy of around 181,000 forints for their utility bills.
The government held a meeting on Thursday. In a Facebook post, the Prime Minister wrote: “Energy prices across Europe have plummeted as a result of the Brussels sanctions. In Hungary, we are protecting families by the utility cost reduction program.”
Featured photo via MTI/Balogh Zoltán