Despite the price guarantee: Electricity providers are becoming more expensive – you should do that
Created: 08/08/2022 11:43 am
By: Carina Blumenroth
The first gas and electricity providers are preparing price increases that they want to pass on to their customers.
This also includes prioenergie – despite the price guarantee.
Many prices are skyrocketing at the moment, whether it's food, electricity or gas.
The energy flat rate of 300 euros is intended to partially offset these additional costs.
The money is expected to be in your account by September or October.
But customers of electricity and gas suppliers are already feeling price increases, even though there is actually a price guarantee.
But that's not allowed, says the consumer advice center.
In a letter, prioenergie announces a price increase to its customers despite the price guarantee.
© Sepp Spiegl/Imago
Price guarantee: "Disruption of the business basis" to justify price increase
Some customers of the provider prioenergie* have received letters in the last few days to prepare them for price increases.
This breaks the price guarantee given by the company itself.
In their letter, those responsible first state that prioenergie is the "safe energy supplier in times of the energy crisis" and that a wide variety of aspects have been included in price calculations that would ensure price stability.
According to the company, some costs have been absorbed in the last twelve months without a price increase.
But this is now no longer possible.
prioenergie cites the war in Ukraine and "state intervention" as reasons for this - these are "extraordinary and unprecedented".
This would be enough
German civil law (§ 313 BGB) as a disruption to the business basis.
Under the given circumstances, this entitles us to demand the adjustment of existing contractual relationships or to terminate them with immediate effect.
Writing prio energy
*prioenergie belongs to the ExtraEnergie GmbH group.
According to the Federation of Energy Consumers e.
V. a discount provider.
ExtraEnergie is active under the following sales names:
-
extra power - extra gas
- HitEnergie
- HitPower
- HitGas
- prioenergy
- priopower
- priogas
Price increase despite price guarantee: § 313 BGB does not apply
According to experts, however, this justification with the reference to the German Civil Code (BGB) is not sufficient.
Holger Schneidewindt is a lawyer at the NRW consumer advice center, he told the specialist portal
Energy & Management
on a similar case in October 2021: “The legislature has provided these paragraphs as a catchment area if nothing really works anymore.
High purchase prices on the market do not justify this step – not even if insolvency is imminent.” According to Schneidewindt, companies whose concept is to buy cheaply on spot markets at very short notice would have difficulties.
Primastrom or voxenergie customers, for example, are also affected by possible price increases.
In this context, the Federation of Consumer Centers is examining a possible model declaratory action.
Despite the price guarantee: How to defend yourself against price increases
The consumer help electricity provider
portal
is particularly surprised by the sharp increase to 67 cents per kilowatt hour.
“Most providers do not increase to this extent and the basic suppliers are also significantly cheaper than the new prices from ExtraEnergie.
Against this background, it can be assumed that ExtraEnergie has insufficiently secured its energy in the long term.
This was ExtraEnergie's entrepreneurial decision," says the website of the
consumer help electricity provider.
Customers should therefore have a good chance of defending themselves against the price increase.
The consumer aid for electricity providers
sees the
following options for action:
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Contesting the price increase (labor-intensive): According to the website, this is usually only worthwhile for gas customers, since new contracts are often more expensive.
The contestation is possible with a sample letter (linked here).
However, it can be assumed that the company will not give in quickly.
The appeal procedure is divided into the following steps:
Submit a sample letter with a deadline
If there is no response, send a reminder
If there is still no response, contact the arbitration board
Change to a cheaper provider: You can make use of your right to special termination.
However, you should check in advance whether you can find a cheaper provider at all.
A consumer describes his contact with the provider on
consumer help
for electricity providers: "They demand an even brazen 72.95 cents/kWh from us.
It's also crazy how the prices seem to differ.
And we just got a letter a few weeks ago that guaranteed us the price.” [Note.
i.e.
Red.: The information provided by the consumer cannot be checked by the editors.]
A request from our editors to the provider remained unanswered.
The exchange
assistant cheapenergy24
has classified the provider prioenergie as "not recommended" due to complaints and bad tariffs.
Reasons that led to this include strong price increases, many complaints and a long period of notice.
