The price of heating in Brno will not rise this year, meaning it is no higher now than it was in 2009. Teplárny Brno has been assisting in the fight against the coronavirus, providing relief to struggling businesses. As a part of the city’s critical infrastructure, company staff are ready to isolate at work if necessary. Photo credit: Freepik / For illustrative purposes.
Brno, Dec 29 (BD) – Teplárny Brno (TB) has announced that the price of heating in Brno will not increase in 2021. This means that the price of heat in 2021 will be no higher in Brno than it was in 2009.
“For our city companies, the main focus is not making a profit, but providing the best possible service at the most affordable price for the residents of Brno. I am glad that Teplárny Brno are succeeding in this task to the maximum extent, and that the price of heat for the next period in Brno will not rise,” said Markéta Vaňková, Mayor of Brno.
With the decline in average heating consumption of buildings combined with inflationary growth for over 10 years, it is evident that heating expenditure, as a proportion of the total expenditure of TB customers, is steadily declining. “This confirms our main strategic goal of maintaining a stable heating price in the city of Brno,” said Petr Fajmon, CEO of Teplárny Brno.
2020 was not exactly an easy year, including for Teplárny Brno, which had to face, among other challenges, the impact of lower heating sales. The total volume of heating sold was 3,522,141 GJ, a year-on-year decrease of 3 percent. “Historically, this was the lowest sales year ever. The heating season 2019/2020 was marked by above-average temperatures, with the most important period for sales, from November 2019 to March 2020, seeing an average temperature of +4.2°C, more than 1°C above the five-year average,” said Přemysl Měchura, CFO of Teplárny Brno.
Although the economy and the company’s operations were negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, TB reported positive economic results for the fiscal year 2019/20, achieved mainly due to higher revenues from electricity sales and lower purchasing costs for energy. “Thanks to this, we were also able to provide relief for about two dozen of our customers who found themselves in difficulty due to the suspension of their activities in the state of emergency. We gave them a 30% discount on rent, for a total of about CZK 250,000. In about three dozen cases, we also agreed to postpone or reduce the maturity of heating payments. These were in connection with both the spring onset of the epidemic and the autumn wave, which has not really ended yet,” said Fajmon. Businesses applying for relief included restaurants and hotels, but also fitness centers, hairdressers, massage parlours, and beauty salons.
Due to the epidemiological situation, Teplárny Brno, as a part of the city’s critical infrastructure, is continuing to operate under extraordinary measures, with the aim of ensuring a continuous supply of heat and hot water. A shift system is in operation so that those on different shifts do not meet. If necessary, Teplárny Brno is ready to switch to an emergency mode known as “COVID19TB”, which would mean isolating 75 employees in the control room and in operations. “In such a case, these workers would sleep in the building and would be provided with food,” explained Fajmon.
