SWB raise prices Customers of Stadtwerke Bonn have to pay more for electricity

Bonn · The basic supply tariff for a four-person household will increase by 3.6 percent. Consumer advocates advise to consider a change of provider.

This is the composition of the electricity price (as of 2019).

This is the composition of the electricity price (as of 2019).

Foto: GA-Grafik

Customers of Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB) will experience higher electricity prices from April onwards. As the company announced on Wednesday, basic and consumption prices will be adjusted "moderately" in the basic supply and in some other products. In a sample calculation, the costs for a private household will increase by 3.6 percent. This is far below the average price increases for electricity: according to the comparison portal Check24, these have been 6.8 percent nationwide since January.

Energieversorgung Mittelrhein (EVM), based in Koblenz, will also be raising electricity prices from April. What it looks like for customers of Rhenag and Bad Honnef AG was not known on Wednesday. According to Check24, three quarters of the total of 834 basic electricity suppliers in Germany have raised their prices or announced increases since the beginning of the year.

The utilities justify the price increases with increased levies and charges by the state, which account for more than half of the electricity price. This year, for example, the eco-tax levy under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) rose by 5.5 percent to 6.756 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) after falling for two years in a row. About 20 percent of the electricity price is accounted for by grid fees and fees for metering point operation. "Only a quarter of the electricity price consists of the costs of electricity procurement and distribution and can therefore be influenced by energy suppliers such as EVM," the Koblenz-based utility announced.

Energieversorgung Mittelrhein increases the working price

At EVM, the electricity price for a family of four with an annual consumption of 3000 kWh will increase by four euros per month, an increase of five percent. While the basic price remains unchanged, the working price increases by an average of 1.45 cents per kWh. SWB also justifies the price increase with the increased EEG levy and the costs for grid usage. Accordingly, the consumption price for the basic supply increases by 0.94 cents/kWh and the basic price by 0.49 cents per month. For a four-person household with an annual consumption of 3000 kWh, an increase of 2.84 Euro per month was reported.

The NRW consumer advice centre has observed that the large utilities are now tending to shift their price increases to April: "Obviously, they are deliberately taking a break at the turn of the year in order to then accommodate the price increases with less attention," explained Udo Sieverding, energy expert at the consumer advice centre, to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Many energy suppliers would also increase by more than the EEG levy and the grid fees required. "Here, the money is paid on the back of the customers," criticized Sieverding.

Expensive basic supply tariffs

The basic supply tariffs are always the most expensive tariffs for average consumption, as the risk factors for the energy companies are also the highest. Here, there are shorter notice periods than with the other tariffs, for example, in which discounts are offered for longer contract periods. There is also an obligation for the basic supplier to supply the households concerned with electricity if an electricity supplier goes bankrupt.

The consumer centres as well as the Federal Network Agency advise private households anyway to compare the tariffs of electricity suppliers and, if necessary, to switch to an alternative tariff either with the previous supplier or with another supplier.

"Consumers continue to pay record electricity prices, even though the exchange electricity prices are historically low", explains Lasse Schmid, Managing Director Energy at Check24.

According to the climate package of the Federal Government, there will be a relief in the coming year: With the income from the CO2 pricing, the EEG levy is to be reduced, it is about 5.4 billion Euros. According to Schmid, a model household would pay 63 Euro less per year for electricity.

(Original text: Ulla Thiede; Translation: Mareike Graepel)

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