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The energy price brake is taking effect: Consumers should pay attention to this

The energy price brake is taking effect: Consumers should pay attention to this

The energy price brake has been in effect since Wednesday. Consumers actually need an information letter for the calculation. However, some households have not yet received this letter or some of it is incorrect. What to look out for

With his “double boom”, Chancellor Olaf Scholz wanted to relieve the burden on consumers – part of this has been in effect since Wednesday with the federal government’s energy price brake. This caps the costs of gas, electricity and district heating for private households and small companies. The regulation will come into effect on March 1st, but will apply retrospectively to January and February. Theoretically at least, because the implementation is delayed.

Some of the information letters from the energy suppliers are incorrect – or have not even arrived

By February 15, many customers should have received a letter detailing their estimated annual consumption. With the energy price brake, the federal government caps the costs for 80 percent of energy consumption: for electricity to 40 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), for gas to twelve cents per kWh and for district heating to 9.5 cents. However, many households have not yet received these letters and are therefore unable to understand what costs they are actually facing. The Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), which also represents the major energy suppliers such as RWE, E.ON and Vattenfall, announced in mid-February that there could be delays. In a press release, BDEW chairwoman Kerstin Andrea described the implementation of the energy price brake as a “mammoth task”. The legislation of the energy price brake is very complex. That is why there are problems in the IT implementation, special cases such as relocations and layoffs have to be taken into account and the deadline after the previous December aid is also very tight.

Energy price brake: Customers do not yet know what costs they expect

These may be understandable reasons, but in the end it is the consumer who is saddled with hard-to-calculate costs. The Federal Association of Consumer Centers (vzbv) therefore criticizes: “The uncertainty is great, consumers now have to find out what costs they really have to reckon with.” But even if the letter from the utility company has already landed in the mailbox, the consumer advice center advises checking the letter more closely. Because some letters are not transparent or incorrect, the federal association complains, and collects complaints nationwide. The letter should contain the current prices for gas, heat or electricity, as well as the current and new prices for the discount. The amount of the relief quota and the individual relief amount should also be included. Furthermore, one should compare the costs for the discount with the previous year’s bill to see whether the consumption estimated by the utility makes sense.

If one or more of these details are missing, you should first contact the respective utility company. In addition, the consumer advice center records whether and how successfully the energy price brake is implemented. If you have questions and are unsure, you can scan the information letter and contact the consumer advice center in your own federal state.

Sources: With material from the dpa news agency, , ,

Source: Stern

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