Electricity prices on the markets are an important indicator of the current market and supply situation in Europe and Switzerland. Supply (production) is combined here with demand (consumption) and ultimately results in a price for a specific electricity product. The day-ahead market indicates the wholesale electricity price for the following day.
The electricity price also indicatively reflects an assessment of the overall market on the supply situation. In the event of short-term shortages, prices will tend to rise on the day-ahead market. Such shortages can be caused, for example, by failures in the production park, a shortfall in supply of supply-dependent production sources such as PV and wind, or by lower availability of primary energy sources such as coal or gas.
However, the exchange prices shown here do not directly result in the end-user price that private and commercial customers pay to their local energy supply company. These end-customer prices depend, among other things, on the procurement strategy (long-term purchases or short-term purchases on the market) of the local energy supply company, on the share of electricity produced in the company's own power plants, on the quality of the electricity (renewable or not), on the grid costs and levies.