Sky-high intent to change electricity and gas suppliers observed in 2023 data.
Over the past year, a record-breaking number of individuals in Germany have swapped their electricity and gas providers. The Federal Network Agency reported that a staggering 6.02 million households switched their electricity supplier, which translates to a switch rate of twelve percent. A year ago, the figure stood at eight percent. The shift is said to have saved consumers a significant amount of money.
Klaus Müller, the President of the Federal Network Agency, commented that while some customers stayed with their providers due to the unstable market conditions in 2022, there's been a noticeable increase in the willingness to switch suppliers for the upcoming year. On average, customers saved 202 euros annually when ditching the basic electricity supply, according to the agency. The savings across contracts came in at 61 euros.
The shift in gas suppliers also saw a leap, reaching a record high of 14 percent in the past year. Consequently, 1.8 million people opted for a new contract. The yearly savings when switching from the basic supply came out to be 470 euros, with the savings across contracts amounting to 210 euros. In contrast, only 1.15 million people switched their gas supplier the previous year.
The average price for household electricity was 41.59 cents per kilowatt-hour on April 1 of this year, undercutting all contracts and roughly five percent cheaper than the previous year's price. Natural gas, on the other hand, averaged 12.5 cents compared to 14.44 cents in the preceding year.
In terms of power grid interruptions, the number apparently declined. A total of 204,441 interruptions were reported. However, the number of interruptions in the gas sector saw an approximately 20 percent increase compared to the previous year, with around 28,000 interruptions.
