Have you already received your utility bill for 2023? Then you should check it particularly carefully. You may be entitled to relief.
Uncertainty among many tenants: The current heating and operating cost bills for 2023 have arrived, but the question remains whether the amounts shown therein actually take into account the savings made through the energy price caps.
The Brandenburg Consumer Advice Center has observed that only a fraction of the bills correctly show the planned relief. It is essential for tenants to be able to see transparently whether they have benefited from state aid or not. In view of this uncertainty, consumer advocates offer support and advise checking the bills carefully. They explain what to look out for when checking in order to ensure that the energy price relief has been passed on appropriately in your own case too.
If the landlord has not fulfilled this obligation, those affected should request to see the documents for the electricity and fuel supply and check them accordingly. The Brandenburg Consumer Advice Center provides a sample letter on its website for objecting to the bill and requesting to see the documents.
The price caps were intended to provide relief to consumers during the energy crisis, when electricity and gas were very expensive. Energy prices above the limit of 40 cents/kWh for electricity, 12 cents/kWh for gas and 9.5 cents/kWh for heat supplies were subsidized by the state in 2023. Consumers are therefore unlikely to have ever paid energy prices above these limits. Landlords were obliged to pass the relief on to their tenants.
