Consumers are already trembling in front of their utility bills. But the really big end will probably only come in the coming year, fears the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center.
The energy expert Udo Sieverding from the consumer center NRW told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” that the ancillary cost billing in the current year will only reflect the rising energy costs to a limited extent. Sieverding explained: “The price hammer will come to consumers next year.”
Many price increases in the past year were comparatively moderate. The big turnaround in electricity and gas prices happened at the turn of the year. And landlords who had to fill their oil tanks this year only pass on the additional costs when they are billed next year.
Sieverding assumes that utilities will continue to increase prices in the current year. The expert continues: “When and by how much also depends on the procurement strategy of the company.” already.
Are suppliers “filling their pockets” with the Ukraine war?
The fear of the expert: “If suppliers adjust the prices, customers have a special right of termination. However, businesses know that there are currently no attractive bargains for consumers.”
Accordingly, there is a risk that some utilities in the slipstream of the Ukraine war would try to screw up their margins and “fill their pockets”. Sieverding continues: “We saw the first electricity prices that were absurdly high. That borders on moon prices.”
Sieverding is not wrong in his fears. With the energy supplier E.on, its customers have already agreed to price increases for electricity and gas. E.on boss Filip Thon told the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND): “We have to reflect this unprecedented situation on the market in our pricing, but try to cushion as much as possible.”
Thon said that it is not yet possible to reliably predict what is really in store for consumers. However, he explained that wholesale natural gas prices would in some cases be 20 times higher than in spring 2020. There are eightfold surcharges for electricity.
Photo: PR
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/ein-chef-filip-thon-stimmte-die-kunden-already-on-strong-price-rises-in-b68f677a9dec43f49ad2499f670dfc4f-79673304/Bild/ 4.image.jpg”/> Eon boss Filip Thon has already prepared consumers for strong price increasesPhoto: PR
However, the E.on manager emphasized: “More than a thousand increases in the basic electricity supply have already been announced and some have already been implemented. It’s about surcharges of 35 percent on average.”
The decisive factor for the price development is whether it is possible to buy enough gas at attractive prices in summer to fill the gas storage tanks that are needed for the next heating season. Thon: “Currently, the storage tanks are only between 25 and 27 percent full. The level is very low there, so the demand to fill the storage tanks will be correspondingly high. And that drives up prices.” In the event that no more gas from Russia arrives in the EU, there is a risk of “drastic consequences for the German economy,” he warned.
The E.on manager rejected state intervention in the energy markets: “I think all efforts towards a state price cap are wrong.” There is a risk that the market will collapse. Or companies would have to be subsidized by the state because the suppliers would have to buy the energy more expensively than they are allowed to sell it. But that ultimately makes the energy expensive for taxpayers, who ultimately have to pay for the subsidies.
Instead, Thon advocates reviewing state aid for private households again: “The planned cancellation of the EEG surcharge on July 1, which electricity customers are currently still paying, is certainly a good step. We have to see if that’s enough. There are additional surcharges and taxes on electricity and gas, and reducing them would provide additional relief.” At the same time, work must be done on energy efficiency both in residential buildings and in companies.
E.on is one of the largest energy suppliers in Germany. According to the company, it has over 14 million private, business and industrial customers.