Electricity price gossip: After the electricity provider went bankrupt, customers have to pay

Created: 01/19/2022 15:29

By: Felix Busjaeger

Rising electricity prices are currently making life difficult for many German consumers.

(Iconic image) © Andrea Warnecke/dpa

Electricity prices in Germany continue to reach record levels.

After provider bankruptcies, customers now have to pay for it: They end up with expensive basic services.

Berlin – Life in Germany is becoming more and more expensive: After the rising electricity prices and gas prices* gave consumers in Germany headaches last year, the situation with electricity prices in 2022 is not expected to ease either.

Experts expect further increases in energy prices and more and more suppliers are feeling the effects of the cost explosions.

Electricity price: After electricity provider Stromio went bankrupt, customers will end up with the basic supply of other providers in 2022

Last December, the news that the electricity discounter Stromio stopped supplying electricity to customers caused a nationwide sensation.

Many former customers have ended up with the basic service of other providers* - the involuntary change was often associated with particularly expensive tariffs.

"At the beginning of the year, 300 of the approximately 800 local electricity suppliers in Germany increased their prices by an average of 15 percent, a three-person household pays around 196 euros more," said Thorsten Storck, energy expert at Verivox, in a press release from the comparison portal.

The price level of the basic supply of electricity has reached a record high nationwide.

The former customers of Stromio are now feeling the effects of this.

As the editorial network Germany (RND) reports, those affected also pay significantly more than other customers from the same provider.

The reason: Frequently, separate tariffs were created for the new customers, some of which were twice as expensive.

Electricity price 2022: After the bankruptcy of electricity provider Stromio, customers end up with basic services - lawyers are preparing lawsuits

While consumers are angry about the current electricity prices in 2022*, according to RND, lawyers are already preparing claims for damages against Stromio and the associated companies. At the same time, consumer advice centers would take action against the extra tariffs for the basic service. The dilemma is large nationwide: due to the bankruptcies of electricity discounters such as Stromio, affected customers automatically end up with local basic suppliers. An end to the possible price increases is far from in sight. Hartz IV recipients should meanwhile receive a subsidy*.

Local basic suppliers, i.e. the energy providers with the most customers in a region, are obliged to continue to supply customers with electricity and gas if the previous supplier is no longer available.

However, basic suppliers also do not have an inexhaustible supply of energy: In order to be able to supply the involuntary new customers with electricity and gas, the energy has to be bought in at currently extremely high prices, according to the association.

Electricity and gas prices will also rise in 2022 - hardly any effects from the EEG surcharge

In view of the rising electricity prices and gas prices in 2022*, the designated CDU leader Friedrich Merz and Left Party leader Dietmar Bartsch have called on the federal government to intervene in the energy price* and to work out solutions against the rapidly rotating price spiral.

Although the Federal Chancellor's traffic light government had lowered the EEG surcharge at the turn of the year, the effect is not noticeable among customers: "The electricity suppliers are not passing on the lower EEG surcharge to their customers because the purchase prices on the electricity exchange have multiplied.

In addition, the charges for the power grids have risen by 4 percent on average nationwide,” explained Storck.

Energy prices 2022: Robert Habeck for clearer rules

Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) spoke out in favor of clearer rules in a video recording at the Handelsblatt energy summit in view of the debate about the development of energy prices in 2022*. "I also don't want to hide the fact that we have to take another look at how the heavily liberalized gas and electricity market will be set up in the future," he explained. It could not remain without consequences that people in good faith that they had received a cheap offer would now be in the more expensive offer.

Nevertheless, Habeck did not shy away from criticism.

With a view to the cheap electricity providers, he spoke of speculation as a business model in which an attempt is made to create long-term security through cheap short-term contracts.

The Green politician spoke out in favor of more transparency.

"It may also be necessary to check that this long-term deposit is regulated more clearly." In any case, it should not be the case that the customers are the ones who are cheated in the end.

While heating costs are rising, a heating cost subsidy for recipients of housing benefit* is currently being discussed.

Gas and electricity prices: Ifo Institute expects further increases in energy costs

Meanwhile, the ifo Institute assumes that there will be further increases in electricity and gas prices in Germany in 2022.

Other areas are also affected, but the cost explosion will have an impact on consumer prices, said economics expert Timo Wollmershäuser.

Even if the gas prices and electricity prices on the stock exchange did not continue to rise, a high rate of inflation can still be expected.

In 2022, consumers would still have to dig deep into their pockets and spend an average of 10 percent more on energy.

(With material from the dpa) * kreiszeitung.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.