The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has shaken up the energy markets. The situation for electricity has returned to normal, but the situation for gas is different.
Private households can now obtain information about general price trends for electricity and natural gas from the Federal Network Agency. The agency will publish an electricity and gas price index at the beginning of the month on its Smard data platform.
The data provide an overview of price developments for household customers and enable an outlook on future developments at the beginning of the month, the network agency in Bonn said.
“Extreme price level largely overcome”
“It is currently clear that we have largely overcome the extreme price level of the crisis year 2022,” explained authority president Klaus Müller. In particular, average electricity prices have stabilized again and are significantly closer to pre-crisis levels.
The reason for some of the extreme price increases was the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. This led to great uncertainty on the energy markets. As a result, procurement costs rose, especially for natural gas and also for electricity.
The indices compare the currently determined values with the base month of January 2021, for which the value 100 was set. “In September 2024, the electricity price index for new customers will be 109.2 percentage points, only 9.2 percent above the pre-crisis level.” Adjusted for inflation, the index is even below the level of January 2021. “The sharp rise in wholesale prices is therefore no longer reflected as strongly in electricity prices,” the network agency noted. The index for existing customers is currently 125.
Gas prices still noticeably above pre-crisis levels
The September gas price index is 175 for new customers and 182 for existing customers. “Although the gas price index has fallen significantly compared to the crisis period, gas prices are still noticeably above pre-crisis levels,” it said. At the height of the energy crisis in September 2022, the new customer index value was 426. For existing customers, the highest value was 243, in June 2023. In addition to procurement costs, the calculation of the respective index also includes surcharges, taxes, network charges, duties, distribution costs and margins.
Comparison portals such as Verivox or Check24 also provide data on energy price developments.
Notice Household Customer Price Index Electricity Household Customer Price Index Gas Consumer Price Index Electricity Verivox Electricity Price Development Check24
Source: Stern
