According to an evaluation by the comparison portal Verivox, there is a large East-West gap in electricity prices. According to this, the electricity prices of the local suppliers in eastern Germany are 15 percent higher than in the west. East German households benefited accordingly from the state electricity price brake.
In view of price jumps last year, the state brake on electricity prices has been in effect since March. The gross electricity price for private consumers and small and medium-sized companies is capped at 40 cents per kilowatt hour. This applies to a requirement of 80 percent of the forecast consumption.
The electricity price brake reduces costs in the east by an average of 331 euros and in western Germany by an average of 160 euros, as Verivox told the German Press Agency. Accordingly, the electricity prices for a model household with a consumption of 4000 kilowatt hours in the basic supply in East Germany are currently 2154 euros per year without taking into account the price brake – in West Germany 1878 euros. The price gap at the expense of the East is thus higher than ever before.
Verivox energy expert Thorsten Storck said: “The large electricity price differences between East and West can be partly explained by the increase in electricity grid fees.” At the turn of the year, the costs for the operation, maintenance and expansion of the power grid rose by an average of 14 percent in western Germany and by 25 percent in eastern Germany. Factors such as industrial and population density, but also the costs for the expansion of renewable energies, are the reasons for the regionally different high grid fees.
According to the evaluation of the portal, the highest electricity prices are currently due in the basic supply in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – the annual electricity bill for a consumption of 4000 kilowatt hours is 2350 euros. That is almost 56 percent more than in the cheapest state of Bremen. According to the portal, the electricity prices valid in April in the basic supply for the respective federal states were evaluated. The default supplier is the energy supplier that supplies most households with electricity in a grid area. According to the Federal Network Agency, in 2021 almost every fourth household customer (24 percent) was in the basic supply for both gas and electricity.
