Good news for consumers: EEG surcharge will decrease significantly in the coming year

The EEG surcharge on the electricity price is intended to promote wind or solar energy.

At the turn of the year the levy will be reduced.

This makes electricity a little cheaper for households.

Berlin - The EEG surcharge for promoting green electricity will drop significantly in the coming year, according to information from the German Press Agency - to 3.72 cents per kilowatt hour. The

reported on it first. A federal subsidy of billions also contributes to the reduction. Without these funds, the last controversial EEG surcharge in 2022 would be around 4.66 cents according to dpa information. In 2021 the surcharge will be 6.5 cents - but only thanks to federal subsidies. Otherwise it would have risen sharply.

The operators of the large power grids want to announce the amount of the EEG surcharge for the coming year this Friday.

However, it is only part of the electricity price.

In the industry, it is expected that a falling EEG surcharge will stabilize electricity prices overall.

On the other hand, the procurement costs that energy suppliers have to pay for electricity have risen significantly.

EEG surcharge: reduction overdue

There are several reasons for the falling EEG surcharge.

According to an analysis by the Agora Energiewende think tank, the high gas, coal and CO2 prices have led to a sharp rise in the price of electricity on the exchange.

This means that far less money is needed from the EEG account to compensate for the differential costs of renewable energies - renewable energies generate higher revenues on the market and the necessary funding amounts are reduced.

In addition, the EEG systems of the early years, which would have received comparatively high remuneration, have gradually reached the end of their 20-year funding period since this year: "The EEG's cost rucksack is therefore getting smaller and smaller."