The Polish capacity fee: what it is, who pays it and what it costs in 2026
As of 27 October 2026. Rates and peak hours are announced for each year separately.
The capacity fee is a charge on the Polish electricity distribution bill. Households pay it as a fixed monthly amount. Businesses with a contracted power (the power their grid contract lets them draw) above 16 kW pay it on every kilowatt-hour they draw from the grid in peak hours, times a multiplier set by the day’s K1-K4 category. This page sets out the key facts and maps the rest of the guide.
What the capacity fee is
The fee funds Poland’s capacity market, which pays for capacity to be kept available to the national power system. Its legal basis is the Capacity Market Act of 8 December 2017, and it has been collected since 2021. The distribution system operator charges it on the distribution bill and passes it on to PSE, the Polish transmission system operator.
Who pays it: a flat rate or hourly settlement
- Flat rate. Households and consumers with a contracted power of up to 16 kW pay a fixed monthly amount set by their band of annual consumption.
- Hourly settlement. Consumers with a contracted power above 16 kW pay on the energy they draw from the grid in peak hours, times a K1-K4 category multiplier. The K1-K4 categories have applied to low-voltage businesses since 1 January 2025, and to medium- and high-voltage consumers since 2021-2022.
What it costs in 2026
- Households: from PLN 4.29 to PLN 24.05 a month, net of VAT, in four bands of annual consumption.
- Hourly settlement: PLN 0.2194 per kWh, net of VAT, on the energy drawn in peak hours, times a category multiplier of 0.17 to 1.00.
| Year | Hourly rate (PLN per kWh, net of VAT) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.1412 |
| 2026 | 0.2194 |
The President of the Energy Regulatory Office (URE) announces the rate for each year in an official notice (Informacja): for 2025 in Information No. 56/2024, and for 2026 in Information No. 58/2025.
How it is charged, in brief
Under hourly settlement the fee is calculated for each day separately: the energy drawn from the grid in peak hours is multiplied by the rate and by the K1-K4 category multiplier. The category depends on how far the average import in peak hours exceeds the average import in the rest of that day. Our article on how the Polish capacity fee is calculated walks through it step by step, with a worked example.
The capacity fee guide
- Capacity fee hours: which hours and days count. In 2026 that is 7:00-22:00 on working days.
- K1-K4 categories and calculator: the Δs coefficient, the thresholds and multipliers, and a calculator that finds the category of a single day.
- Capacity fee for households and businesses: the household flat rate at five distribution operators, compared with hourly settlement.
EnergyPal plans battery operation with the capacity fee and each day’s category in view. The plan treats the fee as one cost alongside the price of energy and does not force a lower category at any price: if on a given day staying in a higher category costs less overall, the plan chooses to stay there. Whether a site can move to a lower category depends on its load profile and on the size of its battery relative to its peak-hour import. Taking the capacity fee into account is a setting made per connection, for business connections above 16 kW with hourly settlement on a dynamic tariff. EnergyPal for businesses
Sources
- Capacity Market Act of 8 December 2017 (ustawa o rynku mocy), Article 70a; consolidated text in the Journal of Laws (Dz.U.) 2025, item 610
- Information of the President of the Energy Regulatory Office (URE) No. 56/2024 (the 2025 rate) and No. 58/2025 (the 2026 rate)
- Information of the President of URE No. 57/2025 of 30 October 2025 (the peak hours for 2026)
This page is for information only. It is not legal advice or an offer: the law and your distribution operator’s tariff prevail.
