Energy prices in Germany, which are already at record highs, will continue to rise in the coming months, the comparison portal Verivox reported on Sunday. The information is based on current publications from energy suppliers.
For the months of April, May and June, the electricity suppliers responsible for the so-called Grundversorgung (basic electricity supply), which covers 13 million households, have announced 166 increases in electricity prices – on average, tariffs will rise by 19.5 percent as a result. It is not known how many of these households have contracts with the so-called Grundversorger and how many with other suppliers.
Threefold increase in one year
Thorsten Storck, energy expert at Verivox, says wholesale prices for electricity suppliers have tripled in one year. Although the Renewable Energy Support Levy (EEG-Umlage) will be abolished in mid-2022, Storck says this will “only slightly mitigate” the increase in household energy costs.
According to calculations by the Verivox portal, electricity prices in Germany have risen by about 50 percent in one year. While a year ago a household with an annual consumption of 4,000 kilowatt hours paid 1,171 euros for electricity, it now has to spend 1,737 euros; the average annual prices quoted are gross prices, i.e. they include VAT.
Historically high gas prices
As for gas, on the other hand, Verivox counted 118 price increases from suppliers responsible for the so-called basic supply, which covers seven million households. On average, tariffs rose by 42.3 percent. “All gas suppliers in Germany are facing historically high purchase prices,” – says Verivox expert Thorsten Storck. “The war in Ukraine and the possible suspension of gas supplies further aggravate the situation.
Therefore, in the case of gas, the price curve has veered even more sharply upwards: if an example family with a gas consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours per year had to spend €1,184 per year on gas as recently as April 2021, it now has to spend €2,787, an increase of 135 percent.
Source: www.heise.de