Households in Germany have to pay more for electricity than in any other EU country.
This is due to high taxes.
But there is hardly any improvement in sight.
Berlin - In no other European country do private households have to pay as much for electricity as in Germany. That comes from the figures of the European statistical office Eurostat. According to this, the kilowatt hour cost 30.06 cents in the second half of 2020 in Germany with an annual consumption between 2500 and 5000 kilowatt hours. If the consumption is lower, the electricity price will be even higher. The figures fueled the debate on Monday (June 7th) about a sustainable reduction in electricity costs.
Germany is ahead of Denmark when it comes to electricity prices in Europe.
In Germany's northern neighbors, a kilowatt hour including all duties and taxes cost 28.19 cents.
According to Eurostat figures, the average of the 27 EU countries cost a kilowatt hour 21.34 cents.
In some EU countries such as Hungary, Estonia or Croatia, the kilowatt hour is even cheaper at ten to 14 cents.
Electricity in Germany: high levies and taxes as main price drivers
The main price drivers for electricity costs are levies and taxes.
If they are factored out, the kilowatt hour cost 14.51 cents in Germany, according to Eurostat.
That is less than Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
The difference to the EU average of 12.82 cents is also smaller than that of the total price.
Relief for consumers has long been discussed.
The head of the BDEW energy association, Kerstin Andreae, called on Monday to gradually reduce the EEG surcharge to promote green electricity to zero by 2026 at the latest.
“The tax and levy burden on electricity is simply too high at over 50 percent,” she said.
That is a stumbling block for environmentally friendly electricity-based applications such as electromobility or the use of hydrogen.
Left party leader: electricity prices "unacceptably high"
The parliamentary group leader of the Left in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, called the electricity prices "unacceptably high".
The electricity tax must be abolished for private households and the EEG surcharge fundamentally reformed, he told the newspapers of the Funke Group.
“The basic contingent for households should be particularly cheap.
Electricity and energy must not become luxury goods. "
High electricity prices: no reform in sight
The black-red coalition has not yet been able to agree on a fundamental reform to relieve the high electricity prices.
It is true that the EEG surcharge to promote green electricity is to be stabilized in 2023 and 2024 with billions of euros from the federal budget after 2021 and 2022.
This is a measure to relieve consumers of fuel and heating in return for the CO2 price.
However, there is no plan to permanently abolish the levy that electricity customers pay through the electricity bill.
Above all, Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) wants the EEG surcharge to be abolished completely and the promotion of green electricity surcharges to be paid for from tax revenues.
But that is a huge chunk financially - and there are big holes in the budget after the massive burdens of the Corona crisis.
However, the willingness to relieve citizens of the EEG surcharge is also growing within the Union, as well as among the SPD and the Greens.
This is sometimes cited as a possible compensation for additional burdens through higher CO2 pricing.
Electricity: Wholesale prices point to further price increases
In the second half of last year, private households in Germany benefited from the temporary reduction in VAT.
According to calculations by the Federal Statistical Office, electricity was 2.4 percent cheaper than in the first six months of the year.
However, market observers are registering signs of a renewed increase.
In wholesale there are already higher prices, said Thorsten Storck, energy expert at the comparison portal Verivox.
The cheapest offers for consumers have already increased by around 6 percent since the beginning of the year.
(dpa / AFP / utz) Merkur.de is part of IPPEN.MEDIA.
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