Average monthly electricity prices in Great Britain 2015-2023

In March 2023, electricity prices in Great Britain dropped to the lowest value since the summer of 2021 and amounted to approximately 109 British pounds per megawatt-hour. A record high was reached in August 2022 when day-ahead baseload contracts averaged 363.7 British pounds per megawatt-hour. This represented a month-over-month growth of almost 40 percent.

Why did electricity prices soar in Europe?

An energy supply shortage after the economic recovery of 2021 and the energy market tightening after the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused electricity prices to soar across Europe since 2021. The growing wholesale prices of natural gas and coal set power prices to boom in 2021 and 2022.

… and in the United Kingdom?

Heavily reliant on natural gas for its electricity generation, the United Kingdom was one of the countries with the highest electricity price worldwide in the summer of 2022. The increase was also partially related to rising carbon prices brought in by the UK Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) since May 2021.