The energy price rally continues.
Now even more utilities are increasing their prices and consumers are having to pay more for cooking and heating again.
Munich / Berlin - More and more consumers will soon have to dig deeper into their pockets for gas for heating and cooking.
Other gas suppliers want to increase their prices in Germany.
Since August, 98 basic gas suppliers have increased their prices or announced increases, reported the comparison
portal Check24
on Tuesday in Munich.
A good six weeks ago, the portal was only 50. Consumers should expect a wave of gas price increases this winter, said Steffen Suttner from
Check24
.
Rise in gas prices: around 560,000 households affected
The average increase was 17.3 percent.
For a model household with an annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours, this means additional costs of an average of 263 euros per year, the portal reported.
So far, a total of around 560,000 households are affected.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, there are around 42.8 million apartments in Germany (2020).
Almost half of all apartments are heated with gas.
One of the main reasons for the currently rising gas prices is the increased global demand for energy as a result of the economic upswing after the Corona crisis.
There were big differences between the 98 price increases.
In two companies, the price of the basic service more than doubled.
The highest increase was 128.6 percent.
At the other end are six companies that are raising prices by less than 5 percent, two of them by just 1.4 percent.
According to the Federal Network Agency, there are currently 683 gas supply companies that supply household customers.
Energy costs: Differences between gas price providers can be traced back to purchasing strategies
Fabian Huneke of the consulting firm Energy Brainpool sees various purchasing strategies of gas suppliers as the main cause for the big differences in the current price increases.
"Those who started buying gas two or three years ago only have to partially pass on the current high gas prices to their customers," he told the dpa.
Suppliers who bought gas at short notice now have a problem: "They have to pass on a large part of the increases."
According to
Check24
, a sample household with an assumed annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours at the prices valid in October pays an average of 1532 euros per year for gas, i.e. just under 7.7 cents per kilowatt hour.
This is almost eight percent more than a year ago.
In the past, however, the costs for heating with gas or oil were at times higher.
According to
Check24
, an average household with a consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours of gas or 2,000 liters of heating oil paid
1,538
euros in August 2012.
It was not until the beginning of 2015 that prices fell significantly again.
According to the comparison portal Verivox, more than 300 basic providers had already increased their prices at the beginning of 2021 - but only by an average of 6.7 percent.
"We expect many more price increases in the coming weeks," said Verivox energy expert Thorsten Storck.
Suppliers would have until mid-November to announce price changes for the coming year.
Warn consumer advocates: Read the mail from the gas supplier carefully
Consumer advocates advised to read mail from the gas supplier carefully and to the end. Sometimes the increase will only be announced on page three of the letter, warned the energy expert at the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center, Udo Sieverding. "If you get a hefty increase, you should of course look around for other tariffs." However, there is currently the "super special situation that you are hardly offered an attractive special tariff to which you can switch".
Sieverding advised those who currently cannot find a better offer in the comparison portals should look again later.
“It can look better in two weeks.” On the other hand, consumers have to be prepared for the fact that gas will become more expensive.
“You can't avoid it.” Sieverding sees opportunities to reduce costs a little in consumption behavior.
"But the question of the temperature in the apartment or the shower length is known to be controversial."
Energy expert: Relaxation in the market is in sight
Energy expert Huneke currently sees "slight signs of relaxation" on the gas procurement markets.
On the one hand, he gives statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the reason.
Last week, the latter had instructed the state-owned company Gazprom to increase deliveries to Germany and Austria as soon as the underground storage facilities in Russia are filled.
This should happen at the beginning of next week.
On the other hand, there are now weather forecasts that "predict a perfectly normal winter".
The wholesale prices for gas to be delivered in December at the beginning of October would have been over 100 euros per megawatt hour.
They are now 64 euros.
"That is still extremely high, but we no longer see these highly inflated prices in the first half of October." (
Dpa)
