The traffic light budget crisis is causing higher electricity prices. Since promised subsidies are no longer available, network fees have increased. Consumers often have to pay.
Electricity will be significantly more expensive for many consumers this year. This is shown by an evaluation by the comparison portal Verivox, which is available exclusively to t-online.
The reason for the increase is significantly higher network fees, as expected government subsidies amounting to 5.5 billion euros will no longer be available. “Due to the abolition of subsidies for transmission network fees, we are observing a record increase in network fees this year,” says Thorsten Storck, energy expert at Verivox. Ultimately, consumers have to pay for this.
Traffic light budget crisis increases costs for customers
The comparison portal’s calculation shows: electricity network fees for private customers are increasing by around 25 percent. A three-person household with an electricity consumption of 4,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year has to pay an average of 103 euros more gross than in 2023.
Network usage fees, also known as network fees, are charged for the expansion and maintenance of lines, but also for meter installation, reading and billing. They are borne jointly by the consumers in the respective distribution network. The fee accounts for around a quarter of the electricity price.
methodology
The comparison portal compared the electricity network fees for households from 2023 with the previously published final network fees for 2024. Data is currently available for more than 90 percent of households in Germany. The average values were calculated by weighting the number of households in the respective distribution network area.
The fact that network fees are increasing is actually not a new development. The distribution network operators had already published their preliminary electricity network fees for 2024 in October 2023. On average, they expected an increase of eleven percent, which would have corresponded to additional costs of around 48 euros for a three-person household. There was already talk of a record increase.
But at that time the companies were still taking the planned subsidies into account. After the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling on the traffic light government’s budget, these subsidies were canceled in order to plug the hole in the budget planning. As a result, the transmission system operators doubled their network fees. The distribution network operators are now passing on these costs, which have increased by a further 12 percent, to households.
Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia are particularly affected
The evaluation shows: The increase is not the same everywhere. There are particularly high additional costs in Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia. For a sample family, the comparison portal comes to an increase of 122 euros. In Bavaria it is 120 euros, in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland it is 117 euros more each. The costs rose significantly less in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with an increase of 40 euros, and in Brandenburg (43 euros). However, the network fees here were already at a higher level.
The extent to which the rising electricity network fees also result in higher electricity prices depends on the respective supplier and whether they pass on the increase in full. In addition, electricity prices are currently very different. According to Verivox calculations, a sample family pays an average of 1,758 euros per year for electricity in the local basic supply tariff. In the cheapest tariff with a price guarantee it is only 1,028 euros. The comparison portal says that higher costs could be offset by changing providers.
There is also a risk of price increases elsewhere
But it’s not just electricity that could become more expensive for consumers this year. There is also a risk of price increases for heating, refueling and in restaurants. “Overall, consumers will be burdened more heavily in 2024,” says Tobias Hentze, economist at the employer-related Institute of the German Economy (IW) in Cologne, t-online. “A lot comes together: the increase in VAT in the catering industry and for gas, a higher CO₂ price, rising social security contributions and higher costs for health and nursing care insurance.” You can read more about rising consumer prices here.
A calculation by the institute shows: The bottom line is that a single person with an annual gross income of 50,000 euros pays 40 euros more in taxes and duties per year. A family with two children and a combined gross annual income of 130,000 euros, on the other hand, will have 262 euros more in their pocket at the end of the year, while a family with an annual income of 42,000 euros will have 33 euros less in their pockets.
