Part of the increase may have been to do with the government’s reduction of retail gas and electricity prices while economic growth may also be a factor, the paper speculated.

Natural gas consumption was up 1.5% and electricity consumption rose 3% from a year earlier. Between the beginning of December last year and the end of February 2015, Hungarian consumers used 3.662 billion cubic metres of natural gas, 54,000bn more than the previous winter.

Households alone used 1.111 billion cubic metres of gas during last winter, 6.5% more than a year earlier. Electricity consumption rose to 11,235 GWh last winter from 10,883 GWh a year earlier, the paper said, citing data from transmission system operator MAVIR.

After a combined 20% cut in 2013, the retail price of gas dropped by 6.5% from April 2014 while retail electricity prices fell by 5.7% from last September.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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