“Bills Under Consumer’s Control” –– latest opinion poll of energy market participants
What do Poles know about their household electricity consumption and how do they rate the legibility of invoices? The results of the latest public opinion poll, which the Energy Regulatory Office (URE) carried out in April and May this year in partnership with Smartscope, a market intelligence agency, illustrate the level of awareness among electricity consumers.
- Since taking up my role as President of the URE, I have stressed out the importance of the social aspect of the energy transition. What is extremely important in this context is a careful and sound education about the directions and objectives of the changes unfolding now in the energy sector. However, to effectively improve the awareness of energy consumers and motivate them to proactive and rational consumption behaviour, both the legislator and the Energy Market Regulator need to have updated and insightful knowledge of consumers’ attitudes and level of knowledge regarding the electrical power industry. For this reason, we have decided for the second time to use the tool of professional and cyclical opinion polls among a carefully selected group of comparable respondents - points out the President of URE, Rafał Gawin.
Continued polling of energy market participants
The poll responders were selected from those fully or partially responsible for paying household electrical bills. This year’s poll featured two new categories of consumers: prosumers (15 per cent) and heat pump owners (10 per cent).
The poll was carried out on a representative cohort of 1025 respondents using CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview).
The poll questions were broken down into nine topic blocks:
- Understanding of and attitudes towards the energy market;
- Awareness of the feasibility of switching energy resellers;
- Assessment and understanding of energy consumption invoices;
- Understanding of energy consumption;
- Expenditure: attitudes, knowledge, and burden;
- Awareness of market mechanisms;
- Awareness of energy market fraud;
- The needs of electricity consumers;
- Appeal of potential solutions.
The conclusions drawn from the poll results should help this Energy Market Regulator in its performance of statutory mission with the overarching objective of balancing the interests of energy companies and their consumers.
The Bills Under Consumer’s Control poll is the second one over the past two years to survey public opinion and feedback, commissioned by the President of the URE. The results of the previous poll, “Energy Regulated” were published in November 2023.
Consumers’ understanding of the energy market
51 per cent of poll respondents said they were familiar with the sources from which electricity is generated and their environmental impact.
Yet only 29 per cent, against more than 35 per cent of the undecided, declared that they understood how the energy market works, including its pricing mechanisms. Only 24 per cent admitted that they understood the actions of the institutions tasked with the energy policy. The opposite view was held by 39 per cent, while 37 per cent had no concrete opinion on the topic block.
Only 26 per cent agreed with the statement that the energy market was changing for the better. Undecided on this and against such a statement were 37 per cent of respondents each.
More than 60 per cent had doubts about Poland’s preparedness for energy crises. These doubts were not shared by only 9 per cent.
As many as two-thirds (66 per cent) feared an uncontrolled increase in energy prices in the near future. 7 per cent had no concerns on this issue.
Almost 70 per cent — with barely 6 per cent in opposition — called for more effective state control of energy prices. 64 per cent also desired more public sector support for the development of renewable energy sources.
As the most important solutions for the development of the energy market, the poll responders mainly indicated (a in multiple choice question): the construction of energy storage facilities (65%), the development of offshore wind farms (58%), and the development of nuclear power (55%). Onshore wind power development and further freezing of energy prices had each 54 per cent in favour.
- The level of knowledge and understanding of electricity market mechanisms depends to a large extent on reliable, truthful and complete information provided to consumers by energy companies. The message to the end user, in particular the consumer, must be transparent and the procedures simple. The practice of the consumer ombudsmen suggests that consumers are not reliably and clearly informed about the differences between the power tariff offer and the market offers and, unfortunately, do not know their options - notes the District Consumer Ombudsman in Kutno, Aleksandra Bielecka..
Household energy expenditure
As many as 74 per cent of the poll respondents believed that energy fees are more burdensome today than they were two to three years ago. This notion is stronger among residents of detached and terraced houses, where it was expressed by 80 per cent.
Yet barely 23 per cent could determine their household’s annual energy consumption.
The following were most often cited as the main factors driving the hike of energy prices: European Union policy (a key or highly significant factor to 61 per cent), national policy (key or highly significant to 60 per cent), and energy commodity prices (key to or highly significant in shaping prices to 59 per cent).
The average declared amount of the last energy bill was 289 PLN. Payments are most often made every month (33 per cent) or two (54 per cent).
Awareness of consumer rights among energy consumers
68 per cent of the poll responders use tariffs approved by the President of the URE. Six per cent admitted using the free market offer and the remainder did not know which type of energy supply contract they were on. 57 per cent had heard of the new type of dynamic price energy sales contracts and 10 per cent stated they had used them.
73 per cent confirmed they understand that energy resellers could be switched. Yet only 13 per cent chose to switch. Only 38 per cent correctly indicated the 14-day withdrawal period.
In the 2023 poll, more than 90 per cent of respondents declared that they were aware it was possible to switch energy resellers, while 15 per cent had done so at least once.
One-fifth of the polled in 2025 experienced problems with their electricity bills. The following were cited as the most common irregularities: an excessive payment billed or unexpected increase of payment (35 per cent), incomprehensible charges/invoices (32 per cent) and calculation errors in consumption and charge levels (22 per cent).
61 per cent of energy consumers have encountered some form of fraud in the electricity market, which most often took the form of a call for immediate payment (47 per cent), impersonation of an energy reseller (41 per cent) and government employees (38 per cent), or fraud that involved photovoltaic power (38 per cent).
The poll respondents’ knowledge of the energy market, including offers for the sale of energy, comes primarily from their own experiences with energy companies (43 per cent), from radio and television (42 per cent) and from energy resellers’ websites (39 per cent). Only 4 per cent declared they had used the energy price comparison sites available on the market.
How do consumers view energy invoices?
Some 40 per cent rated electricity invoices as legible (41 per cent) and understandable (40 per cent). More than half (56 per cent) believe that the amount owed is easy to find on the invoices.
The positive verdict of electricity invoice legibility is driven by certain factors, including distinct paragraph separation of the amount payable details from the contents, as well as its highlighting using colours and layout. One of the positive drivers of the comprehensibility of the invoice is the graphical representation of energy consumption.
According to the poll responders, around 60 per cent of the bill is the charge for the electricity consumed, 30 per cent goes to the distribution charge and the remaining charges or fees account for around 10 per cent.
Among the suggestions for applications that could make it easier for consumers to navigate the ‘maze of information’ on the energy sector, tools for digital bill management, smart grid management and optimised energy sales offers were identified by the poll responders as the solutions with the greatest potential.
How many consumers are aware of the Energy Market Regulator?
Nearly half of the respondents (49 per cent) declared that they knew what the Energy Regulatory Office was. Furthermore, 62 per cent correctly identified the URE as the agency tasked with regulation of the energy market.
Residents of large cities (59 per cent), those with a university education (58 per cent) and prosumers (57 per cent) are more familiar with the URE.
In 2023, 54 per cent of poll responders declared that they were familiar with the URE (had heard of it).
In this year’s poll, just over half of the respondents (52 per cent) correctly indicated that the President of the URE is responsible for approving electricity tariffs. Nearly half (47 per cent) correctly indicated that the energy company was responsible for the calculation of the tariff, with more than 1/4 of the polled incorrectly indicating that the URE as the responsible authority.
- The results of the survey reveal that there are still areas that require educational intervention and more attention from the Energy Market Regulator. Consumers’ competences need to be strengthened in three main areas: (i) cognitive, which means understanding how the energy market works, the role of the URE and how tariffs are set; (ii) emotional, which are related to building consumers’ trust while reducing their uncertainty and sense of confusion; and (iii) practical, including informed choices, exercising consumer rights and regular monitoring of energy consumption. Note that similar challenges are true for many European Union countries, which are trying to build citizen involvement in energy transition processes. Measuring them reliably is an important step in defining needs, building transparency into the system, and ultimately, empowering male and female consumers - points out Professor Aleksandra Wagner from the Jagiellonian University.
The full poll report (in Polish) is available on the URE website.