To correct for a persistent lack of current, frequently updated and methodologically reliable information on household prices for both electricity and gas at the European level, the Austrian energy regulator (Energie-Control) and the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority (MEKH) have commissioned VaasaETT to compile and publish electricity and gas price-rankings in 33 European capital cities on a monthly basis starting from January 2009 with the EU15 countries and gradually expanded to the all of the EU Member States in addition to selected members of the European Energy Community (Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, and Ukraine), plus Great Britain and Switzerland. This study is known under the name Household Energy Price Index (HEPI).

The HEPI methodology was developed, tested, and improved over several months. The details as well as the background data were shared with every national regulator in the countries covered before the “go-live” of the study and their comments taken into account to ensure wild acceptance of the publications.