Today, we will discuss our operational and financial results for the three and 12 months period ended December 31, 2020.
Despite the challenges of the global pandemic, we were able to increase our global customer base by 66,000 RCEs during the year to reach 440,000 RCEs at year-end, a 17% increase and a record for our Company.
In the fourth quarter, historically our slowest sales quarter, RCEs decreased slightly from 442,000.
Nevertheless, we added 28,000 domestic RCEs during the year to end the year with 337,000 RCEs despite a fourth quarter decline from 350,000 RCEs.
At GRE International, we increased our RCEs served by 58% during 2020 and a 12% during the fourth quarter to reach 103,000 RCEs at year-end.
That imbalance led the PUC to manipulate spot market prices, moving them from the usual sub-$50 per megawatt hour to $9,000 per megawatt hour, where they were artificially maintained by ERCOT, a Texas grid manager, for five full days around the clock.
Just to give you an idea of how completely unprecedented this was, in the previous 10 years, energy prices only hit $9,000 without government interference for a total of 16 hours.
For reference, in the week before the storm, ancillary charges amounted to approximately $2 per megawatt hour, while during the storm the prices spiked to over $20,000 per megawatt hour.
While we were fully hedged for colder-than-normal seasonal weather having bought power well in excess of what our customers demand on a normal winter day, the unprecedented increase in ancillary charges, the artificially sustained period of $9,000 per megawatt hour supply pricing and the extraordinarily high usage led to significant losses.
At this moment, the information we received to date from our supplier BP indicates that our costs as a result of the storm stand at approximately $12.8 million.
Prices on the Japan Electric Power Exchange surged to $2,390 per megawatt hour, becoming, for a while, the most expensive market in the world.
With only four of its 33 nuclear power plants operating, the country is heavily relying on LNG to meet short-term burst in demand.
We have better information on the cost in Japan and our RCE base is smaller than in Texas, so we can say with some confidence that the hit in Japan will be approximately $2.5 million.
My remarks today cover our financial results for the three and 12 months ended December 31, 2020.
Fourth quarter 2020 consolidated revenue increased by $21 million to $103 million, primarily reflecting the consolidation of Orbit Energy in the fourth quarter of this year.
Quarterly revenue at Genie Retail Energy, or GRE, our domestic REP segment, decreased $4 million to $70 million, primarily on decreased gas sales.
At GRE International, the segment that comprises our REP operations outside of the U.S., revenue in the fourth quarter increased by $26 million to $32 million, reflecting the inclusion of Orbit results, following its consolidation and increases in meters served at Lumo Energia, our Scandinavian REP.
Genie Energy Services fourth quarter revenue decreased from $1.2 million to $876,000 as revenue realized in the year ago quarter pursuant to Prism Solar's contract for solar panels with JPMorgan Chase was not repeated.
Full year 2020 consolidated revenue increased $64 million to $379 million, a record for our Company.
GRE contributed $19 million of the consolidated revenue increase, posting revenue of $305 million as the COVID-driven shift to work-from-home drove higher per meter electricity consumption.
GRE International revenue increased $33 million to $50 million in 2020, primarily reflecting the consolidation of Orbit results in the fourth quarter.
Genie Energy Services revenue increased $12 million to $24 million in 2020, almost exclusively because of the JPMorgan contract revenues that were recognized in the first half of 2020.
Consolidated gross profit in the fourth quarter, predominantly generated by GRE, was $22 million, unchanged from the year ago quarter.
Gross profit at GRE decreased by $4.3 million to $17.7 million as gross profit per kilowatt hour sold decreased and was only partially offset by increases in per meter electricity consumption.
GRE International contributed $4.4 million in gross profit compared to negative gross profit of $288,000 in the year ago quarter.
Full year consolidated gross profit increased $14.8 million to $97.7 million.
Gross profit increased $7.6 million at GRE on the strength of increased per meter consumption post-COVID, which was offset by a decrease in gross profit per kilowatt hour.
GRE International's growth and the consolidation of Orbit drove a $6.8 million increase in the segment's full-year margin contribution to $7.2 million.
SG&A spend in the fourth quarter of 2020 increased $3.4 million to $22.7 million and full year 2020 SG&A increased $4.3 million to $77 million.
Our fourth quarter consolidated loss from operations was $1.1 million, compared to income from operations of $2.3 million in the year ago quarter, primarily as a result of the decrease in margin per kilowatt hour sold at GRE.
GRE generated income from operations of $5.1 million, a decrease from $8.2 million in the year ago quarter, reflecting the decrease in margin per kilowatt hour sold as well as decreased gas sales.
GRE International's loss from operations was $2.9 million compared to $3.2 million in the year ago quarter.
Full year 2020 income from operations increased $9.5 million and $19.3 million.
The improvement was primarily generated at GRE, where income from operations increased $9.2 million to $36.4 million on increased consumption, partially offset by narrowed margin per kilowatt hour sold.
GRE's loss from operations narrowed to $7.6 million from $8.1 million.
Consolidated adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter was $693,000 compared to $815,000 in year ago quarter.
For the full year, the increase in residential electricity consumption in GRE drove an increase in GRE's full-year adjusted EBITDA to $37.3 million, which in turn [Indecipherable] consolidated adjusted EBITDA by $13.9 million to $24 million.
Genie Energy's earnings per diluted share increased to $0.01 from nil in the year ago quarter and for the full year 2020 increased to $0.44 from $0.10 in 2019.
At December 31, we had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments totaling $48.3 million.
Working capital totaled $38.2 million.
We again have no debt at quarter end and non-current [Phonetic] liabilities totaled just $3.8 million.

Summary:
Quarterly revenue at Genie Retail Energy, or GRE, our domestic REP segment, decreased $4 million to $70 million, primarily on decreased gas sales.