Home office and hardly any out-of-home activities - that should make private electricity bills climb. The state could provide air for consumers through the EEG levy or electricity tax.
Heidelberg / Berlin (dpa) - Because of the corona pandemic, according to the Internet comparison portal Verivox, the electricity bill could rise for many households this year.
The reason for this is that public life has largely come to a standstill and work in the home office. "Electricity costs are higher than ever, and it can be assumed that domestic electricity consumption will be significantly higher this year than in previous years due to the ban on contacts," said Verivox energy expert Valerian Vogel.
However, it is unclear how much additional electricity is consumed from working in the home office. "Because of the longer length of stay in the apartments, the energy consumption of private households should increase slightly overall," expects the Federal Association of German Energy and Water Management (BDEW). Video conferencing or home office activities will increase private electricity consumption "only by a small amount".
More electricity is used in everyday households than for communication devices. Cooking, drying, ironing and other process heat account for around 30 percent of electricity consumption, according to figures from the Energy Balance Working Group. For computers, telephones and Co., it is only 17 percent. If more is cooked at home in Corona times, electricity consumption should increase.
Electricity prices rose to a record level this spring, but households are paying less for their energy consumption than they did a year ago. Because heating with fuel oil and gas became cheaper, and consumers also have to spend less on refueling. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there was a total price drop of 0.9 percent between March 2019 and March 2020 for energy products.
The Greens want to make electricity significantly cheaper by lowering the EEG surcharge in order to boost the economy again after the Corona crisis and to relieve the public. As early as the middle of the year, the levy should be reduced by five cents per kilowatt hour. The levy for expanding renewable energies is currently 6.76 cents per kilowatt hour. The black-red coalition also wants to reduce the green electricity surcharge - but only in 2021 when a CO2 price increases the price of fuel, heating oil and natural gas.
According to Verivox expert Vogel, it is not yet clear how much the coalition's plans will relieve consumers. The amount of the levy for 2021 is still unclear. "Because of the lower electricity consumption and the lower electricity exchange prices, it could even be higher than before."
The state has a number of ways to sustainably relieve consumers of the price of electricity, said Vogel. Of the approximately 39 billion euros that German households would probably pay for their electricity bills this year, around 20 billion euros were accounted for by taxes, levies and levies. This corresponds to a tax rate of around 53 percent.
In addition to the EEG levy, which for an average household with a consumption of 3000 kilowatt hours means an annual burden of EUR 242 gross, the state also collects electricity tax and VAT. Electricity tax accounts for around 7 percent of the electricity bill at 2.05 cents per kilowatt hour. This would result in gross costs of EUR 73 per year for an average household.
There is also potential for value added tax, where 19 percent is due for electricity. If electricity is classified as a vital commodity and therefore falls under the reduced VAT rate of 7 percent, this would correspond to an annual relief of 92 euros, says Vogel.
