The energy price brake is causing traffic jams at Stadtwerke München.
Two-thirds of customers are still waiting for their bill.
Munich – The federal government's energy price brake is causing considerable difficulties for Stadtwerke München (SWM).
Hundreds of thousands of SWM customers are still waiting for a letter about their electricity bill.
According to SWM, it will take until the end of May before all customers have received their information.
Around 300,000 out of a million have been written to so far, i.e. around a third.
Electricity and gas: price brakes cause billing backlog
Many Munich residents will be surprised that the deduction for electricity and/or gas has still not been debited in March and April.
The reason is the implementation of the price brake.
This came into force on March 1 for the rest of the year and also applies retroactively to January and February.
For 80 percent of the previous year's consumption of electricity, gas and heat, the state grants a subsidy - on the portion of the price that is above a reference value.
This is 40 cents for electricity, 12 cents for gas and 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour for district heating.
The price brake only takes effect if the price is above these values.
This is the case with municipal utilities.
According to SWM, the individual bills are delayed due to legal provisions and the many constellations of tariffs and monthly payments on account.
In concrete terms, the relief is offset against the customer's deductions.
A spokesman for Stadtwerke says: "A terribly complex matter." And he admits: "You have to read the letter several times to understand it." How complicated the matter is was already evident in early April.
At that time (a good 120,000 electricity bills had been sent out),
tz
reported on the letters and showed how to read them.
The situation has apparently not gotten much clearer since then.
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At Stadtwerke München, it takes a little time to process the bills due to the electricity price brake.
© Tobias Hase/dpa
Price brake ensures a high volume of calls to SWM
There is currently “an increased caller volume” at the municipal utilities.
From people who want to have the billing explained to them or from those who ask why no debit has been made yet.
What can SWM customers who have not yet been informed now expect?
To put it in a nutshell: Anyone who has already made a relatively high advance payment or has voluntarily increased it is less likely that money will be debited afterwards.
However, if you pay a low discount, you could experience a nasty surprise despite the price brake.
Questions are answered by the SWM customer service (0800/796 01 01).
Customers can also find more information about the energy price brakes here.
List of rubrics: © Tobias Hase/dpa
