Gloomy prognosis: Electricity prices could rise enormously - over 200 euros per month
Created: 10/17/2022, 12:05 p.m
By: Jason Blaschke
Just as with heating oil and gas, electricity prices for consumers could also increase enormously from 2023 – a new forecast reveals what prices experts are expecting.
Stuttgart – Food, fuel and, for several weeks now, the ancillary costs: consumer prices in Germany have only been going in one direction for weeks, as
bw24.de
reports.
The inflation rate for September 2022 published by the Federal Statistical Office
(Destatis)
on October 13 clearly shows the extent of this energy and price crisis: Plus 10 percent - "a new high", says
Destatis
President Georg Thiel.
According to the new forecast, the electricity price explosion is likely to start in 2023 - heating oil, wood and gas are already expensive
The main drivers for the record inflation are still the expensive prices for energy, but also for food, explains the
Destatis
boss.
And an end to the energy and price crisis does not seem to be in sight at first.
Politicians are trying to mitigate the financial damage with relief packages, but there is widespread criticism that many of the measures, such as the heating cost subsidy for consumers who are entitled to housing benefit, are a drop in the bucket.
It gets tricky when it comes to things that consumers find difficult or impossible to do without.
This includes heating, but also gas or electricity.
There have been many reports on the prices for heating oil and gas in recent months.
The focus is less on the electricity price, which has also become more expensive, but not to the extreme extent that is the case with gas - at least until now.
Because a new forecast makes you sit up and take notice.
Development of electricity prices in Germany: constant costs – for the time being
Year | Electricity price cents/kWh |
2022 | 32.7 |
2021 | 31.89 |
2020 | 31:47 |
2019 | 30.43 |
2018 | 29.42 |
Source: strom-report.de
Expert is certain - electricity prices will soon be "double the level of today"
In the
"plusminus"
program on October 12, the first interviewed an expert who dared to make an initial forecast for electricity prices in 2023.
Markus Barella, founder and sole shareholder of the electricity consulting company FirstEnergy, points out: "What customers receive today is not the end of the story - and not yet the current exchange price level." For comparison: the exchange prices for electricity have recently increased massively.
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Barella is certain: "We have to be prepared for the fact that the prices for consumers will be twice as high as today." For a family of four with a consumption of 4,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year, the electricity costs would increase to 250 increase in euros per month, calculates
plusminus
as an example.
For comparison: in 2021, consumers paid around 100 euros a month for the same amount of electricity.
How the price of electricity per kWh is made up
The electricity price of currently 32.7 cents per kWh in Germany consists of three components: 51 percent for taxes, levies and surcharges / 24 percent for the use of the electricity grid by the network operator / and 25 percent goes to the electricity provider for electricity generation and sales.
Taxes and surcharges account for just over half of the electricity price per kWh - this is one of the reasons why the price of electricity in Germany is so expensive compared to other EU countries.
Source: co2online.de
Politicians are considering a price cap for electricity – economists reject it
If you add in the current heating and gas oil prices, many consumers will face enormous additional costs in 2023.
No wonder that according to reports from
Merkur.de
there is a rush for firewood and the prices have risen enormously.
Consumers are looking for alternatives to electricity, gas and oil in Germany in order to protect themselves from the price explosions.
As a reaction, politicians are considering a price cap for electricity and gas.
However, opinions on this differ widely.
The
Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ)
reports that economists reject the price cap and instead recommend energy money and continued operation of the nuclear power plants.
“Demand will not fall due to price caps on energy.
Rather, the steering effect of high prices should be retained and needy businesses and households should be helped with targeted payments," says Ifo researcher Niklas Potrafke.
Facebook users are very concerned: "I just got new electricity prices"
Industry representatives see the plans very differently.
Jörg Rothermel from the Association of the Chemical Industry in Germany doubts that such targeted aid payments will actually reach the companies upon application.
"The better solution is to actually cap the price of electricity to a certain amount and then make it available to industrial companies," says Rothermel.
What is certain is that the topic will continue to generate debate.
Some users on Facebook don't care what kind of measures are taken by politicians - the main thing is that something happens at all.
“Just got my new electricity price for 2023.
2023 for an impressive 55.04 cents per kWh,” writes one user.
"Anyone who was looking forward to the increase in citizen income by 50 euros is now experiencing the brutal reality," says another.
Citizens' allowance is a new social benefit that consumers will receive from 2023.
Electricity prices for consumers - the current market price gives little hope
"What else can I do to reduce my power consumption?" asks the affected user in the Facebook community.
You are already saving wherever you can.
But soon there would simply be no more potential for savings.
A challenge that even more consumers could face from 2023 if electricity prices actually rise as much as the forecast says.
In any case, the current exchange prices for electricity do not give much hope.