Basic electricity and gas supply - Portal: falling prices
Electricity and gas prices will fall in December and January for many households in the basic supply. According to the comparison portal Verivox, 83 electricity price reductions averaging 12 percent have been announced for the two months so far.
However, five suppliers have also announced increases, by an average of 2 percent. According to Verivox, this results in a future average price in the local basic supply of a good 46 cents per kilowatt hour. By way of comparison, the electricity price brake, which the German government wants to remain in effect until the end of April, caps the price at 40 cents. The comparison portal pointed out that electricity is currently available from 27 cents per kilowatt hour in alternative tariffs.
Electricity price
The exact number of households affected by the price changes can only be approximated. According to Verivox, there are around 4.7 million households in the areas affected by the electricity price cuts. According to the Federal Network Agency, an average of 24% of all households in Germany were on a basic electricity tariff in 2021. More recent data is not yet available.
This would result in a good 1.1 million households that will soon have to pay an average of 12% less for electricity. According to the comparison portal, around 900,000 households live in the basic supply areas affected by electricity price increases. The basic supplier is always the energy supply company that supplies the most households in a grid area with electricity or gas.
Natural gas
Verivox has so far registered 99 announced price reductions for natural gas in the basic supply for December and January, an average of 15 percent. According to the comparison portal, 9.5 million households live in the affected basic supply areas, of which on average every second household has a gas heating system. The basic supply rate for natural gas was also 24% in 2021.
There were also price increases here, with ten basic suppliers covering an area with around one million households. Verivox calculated a good 14 cents per kilowatt hour as the future gas price in the basic supply. This figure is also above the gas price cap, which limits the price to 12 cents. The comparison portal pointed out that gas is currently available from 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour in alternative tariffs.
Consumers benefiting from lower electricity prices in the basic supply might also see a decrease in their gas bills, as gas prices in the same supply category are expected to decrease as well. Despite these reductions, some households in both electricity and gas supply categories may still face price increases, albeit minimal.
Source: www.dpa.com
