Energy costs
Many electricity customers will pay less in the new year
Numerous electricity and gas customers in the basic supply have already received mail: At the turn of the year, many energy companies are resetting their prices. Electricity often becomes cheaper, gas sometimes like that.
At the turn of the year, many basic suppliers are changing their prices for electricity and gas again. The development is different, as can be seen from an analysis of the comparison portal Verivox available to the German Press Agency. Accordingly, a clear majority benefit from cheaper electricity prices. However, when it comes to natural gas, more households are affected by price increases than by price decreases.
Basic suppliers are energy companies that supply most households in a network area with electricity or gas. These are often municipal utilities. According to the Federal Network Agency, in 2022 households in Germany received 24 percent of their electricity through basic supply contracts. For gas the rate was 18 percent. For the analysis, Verivox evaluated the announcements of more than 1,100 primary care providers.
Verivox: 1.8 million customers benefit from falling prices
For electricity, Verivox registered 280 price reductions of an average of 10 percent. With an annual consumption of 4,000 kilowatt hours, this corresponds to a reduction of around 189 euros per year, explained a spokesman. Around 1.8 million households benefited from the falling prices. But not all suppliers are reducing prices: 47 electricity price increases of an average of 8 percent were announced, which means an increase of 116 euros per year. Around 300,000 households will be affected by the increases.
For natural gas, suppliers announced 64 price increases of an average of 18 percent. With an annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours, this is an additional cost of around 416 euros per year, said the spokesman. Around 700,000 households are affected. However, there are also 211 gas price reductions of an average of 12 percent. This corresponds to an annual relief of 381 euros. 600,000 households would benefit from the reductions.
Portals point to savings opportunities by switching providers
Overall, the price level for basic services remains high even after the price changes, Verivox noted. “While a kilowatt hour of gas costs an average of around 14.2 cents in the standard tariff of the local gas supplier in the new year, it costs an average of 9.2 cents in the cheapest national new customer offer,” explained the spokesman. For electricity, the average price is 43.5 cents per kilowatt hour. The cheapest new customer offer would cost 26.9 cents. The comparison portal Check24 also pointed out the savings potential by switching providers on Thursday.
dpa
Source: Stern
