Source: dpa-tmn/Christin Klose
Data from a comparison portal shows that most energy suppliers are sticking to tariffs above the energy price brakes. The electricity and gas prices on the exchanges have fallen drastically – for electricity from 500 to 130 euros per megawatt hour.
FThis is a nuisance for electricity customers: According to the comparison portal Verivox, despite lower exchange and wholesale prices for electricity and gas, only very few energy suppliers have so far passed on cost reductions to end consumers with existing contracts.
“With the electricity tariffs, 82 percent of the basic supply tariffs are above the price cap, with the gas tariffs even 92 percent,” said Verivox boss Daniel Puschmann “Augsburg General” from Monday. Around 25 percent of households in Germany use basic service tariffs.
Puschmann explained that the respective procurement strategy of the suppliers meant that they were having difficulty passing on falling prices to the market. “Many basic suppliers buy for the very long term and have done so when prices were very high. Those high-priced contracts are still on the books now.”
However, the situation on the stock exchanges and in wholesale has “relented significantly,” the Verivox boss told the newspaper. A megawatt hour of electricity currently costs around 130 euros on the spot market. That is much cheaper than in September 2022, when prices were around 500 euros.
Good electricity tariffs for new customers are currently available from a number of providers for an average of 32 cents per kilowatt hour, said Puschmann. That is 20 percent below the state price cap of 40 cents.
The price drop for gas is also drastic, “we are currently at 39 euros per megawatt hour, last year it was sometimes 350 euros”. Tariffs are already available for 10.3 cents, around 15 percent cheaper than the energy price brake for gas, which is 12 cents. “This means that every household saves money for itself, but the state budget is also relieved because it does not have to pay for the price brake,” Puschmann continued.
The Verivox boss turned against the assumption that cheap providers are not serious. “This impression is misleading,” he told the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. On the one hand, municipal utilities or green electricity providers also have favorable tariffs for new customers. On the other hand, all providers have been checked and approved by the supervisory authority. “If a provider acts dubious, it is the task of the Federal Network Agency to take action against black sheep. Their powers have been specially strengthened for this purpose over the past year.”
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