After many months of falling electricity prices, the increased network charges could lead to a rise again. Is that true? How much does a kilowatt hour cost?
The state grid fee subsidy will be abolished on January 1, 2024. As a result, some transmission system operators have already informed their customers that they will adjust their electricity costs accordingly. Instead of 3.12 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), they have been charging 6.43 cents/kWh in grid fees since the beginning of the year. However, not all grid operators have actually passed the costs on to their customers (you can find more information on this in this article).
Nevertheless, many consumers are now asking themselves how expensive a kilowatt hour of electricity actually is in Germany – and whether they might be paying too much.
The current electricity price for new customers is an average of 25.8 cents/kWh (as of June 24, 2024). This is significantly less than a year ago, when the cost was 35.9 cents/kWh.
And how has the increase in the network fee affected electricity costs? Not at all at the moment. Because on December 31, 2023, the cost of a kilowatt hour was 27.2 cents. This means that many energy suppliers – as they announced – have not passed on the increased network fees to their customers. At least not yet.
However, if the labor and basic prices rise in addition to the network charges, the energy costs for consumers could also rise again or remain at a high level, predicts the comparison portal “check24.de”.
There are currently still a lot of customers with old contracts. Their average electricity price is significantly higher: According to the Federal Statistical Office, it is 37.37 cents/kWh. Compared to the previous year (41.44 cents/kWh), this is less. Anyone who switches to a new contract, or can switch, will save a lot of money.
