For many basic households, electricity and gas prices fall in December and January. The comparison portal Verivox reported that 83 electricity price reductions of an average of 12 percent have been announced for the two months.
However, five suppliers have also announced increases, an average of 2 percent. According to Verivox, this results in a future average price for local basic supply of a good 46 cents per kilowatt hour. For comparison: the electricity price brake, which the federal government wants to remain in effect until the end of April, caps the price at 40 cents. The comparison portal pointed out that alternative tariffs currently offer electricity from 27 cents per kilowatt hour.
Electricity price
Exactly how many households are affected by the price changes can only be determined approximately. According to Verivox, there are around 4.7 million households in the areas affected by the electricity price reductions. In 2021, according to the Federal Network Agency, a national average of 24 percent of all households were on a basic electricity supply tariff. More recent data is not yet available.
This would bring the number to a good 1.1 million households that will soon have to pay an average of 12 percent less for electricity. According to the comparison portal, around 900,000 households live in the basic supply areas affected by electricity price increases. The basic supplier is always the energy supply company that supplies the most households with electricity or gas in a network area.
natural gas
For natural gas, Verivox has so far registered 99 announced price reductions in the basic supply for December and January, an average of 15 percent. According to the comparison portal, 9.5 million households live in the basic supply areas affected, of which on average every second has a gas heater. The basic supply rate for natural gas was also 24 percent in 2021.
There were also price increases here, namely at ten basic suppliers; they cover an area with around one million households. Verivox determined a good 14 cents per kilowatt hour as the future gas price for basic services. This value is also above the gas price brake, which caps the price at 12 cents. The comparison portal pointed out that alternative tariffs for gas are currently available from 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour.
