London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 24, 2025

Europe’s energy bills could be lower than expected this winter

Europe’s energy bills could be lower than expected this winter

The possibility of winter blackouts in Europe is being held at bay by falling gas prices.
A spell of unusually warm weather, plus improved supplies, saw the wholesale price of gas drop below €100 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for the first time since mid-June on Monday.

It’s not a household name exactly, but the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) in the Netherlands is Europe’s leading trading hub of fossil gas, where traders swap ‘futures contracts’ for the asset, thereby setting its price.

Gas rose to a record €349 MWh in late August as governments grappled with underground storage deficits and shortages due to Russia’s war, before starting to gradually decrease.

Though they can take a while to make a dent in bills, wholesale prices directly impact the retail price that households and companies pay every month.

It’s not unqualified good news — one climatologist calls the October heat a sign of climate change “spiraling out of control” — and it’s unclear how long lower gas prices will last.

But the turn will be welcomed by millions concerned about their energy bills this season.

There’s a range of factors at play in the reduced gas price. With temperatures milder than expected due to what the UK’s Met Office calls an ‘African plume’, many households have postponed switching on their heating.

This has helped to maintain supplies at gas storage facilities. Soaring energy bills are also acting as a deterrent, even on colder days.

And last week, EU leaders agreed on a mechanism to reign in the most extreme cases of volatility and speculation at the TTF. It’s not the broad price cap that some countries sought, but will act as an emergency ceiling to stop the bloc being exposed to uncontrolled prices.

Gas prices began to drop within hours of the consensus being reached, inews reports, well into Monday.

Though utility firms have been accused of being too slow to pass on savings in the past, there are signs of the market getting more reactive to protect consumers.

Ofgem, the UK’s energy regulator, recently switched to making quarterly adjustments to its price cap (the maximum amount consumers can be charged per unit of energy).

So that should mean that households more quickly feel the benefit of lower wholesale prices.

The country’s National Grid, responsible for distributing electricity and gas, warned earlier this month that people could face a series of three-hour power cuts if a cold snap and reduced supplies conspire to make this necessary.

EU member states are also preparing for this ‘worst-case scenario’, which is looking less likely for now.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Politic is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
×