Europe Faces an Energy Shock After Gas and Power Prices Rocket

  • Prices hit records in many countries even though its summer
  • Consumers will start to feel impact as utilities put up bills
Photographer: Michaela Handrek-Rehle/Bloomberg
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After lockdowns forced Basel Hamzeh to close his cafe in a trendy Berlin neighborhood for months, the 53-year-old is confronting a fresh crisis: high energy bills.

The cost of natural gas and electricity has surged across Europe, reaching records in some countries, as businesses re-open and workers return to the office. In Germany, wholesale power prices have risen more than 60% this year, leaving the owner of the Frau Honig cafe in Friedrichshain with no option but to raise prices of everything from cappuccinos to cinnamon rolls.