Gas customers face cost increases of up to several hundred euros per year.
suk. The surcharge for all gas consumers is 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour, as the market area manager Trading Hub Europe announced on Monday.
The gas importers are thus passing on the additional costs for failed deliveries from Russia to the consumers. They are forced to buy gas on the market at significantly higher prices at short notice in order to meet their delivery obligations. So far, the importers have borne 100 percent of the additional costs themselves.
Noticeable additional costs for consumers
With an average consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours for a family household, customers will have to pay several hundred euros more in future.
Experts calculate an annual consumption of 5000 kilowatt hours for a single household. This results in additional costs of around 120 euros. A family that lives in a detached house and consumes 20,000 kilowatt hours has to pay about 480 euros more. However, the gas levy could only become visible to end customers on the November or even December bill. For reasons of consumer protection, the gas suppliers have to announce the surcharge four to six weeks in advance – by October 1st that will probably be too tight for many.
Energy Security Act as a basis
The basis for the gas surcharge is the Energy Security Act. The additional costs for the procurement of replacement gas are distributed among all suppliers and ultimately gas customers. The levy is the same for all suppliers. It is temporary and ends on April 1, 2024.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner have spoken out in favor of exempting the surcharge from VAT at a rate of 19 percent. However, European legal provisions stand in the way. Should a value-added tax on the gas surcharge be legally unavoidable, “then the income from it should be distributed to low-income groups as monthly energy money,” suggested Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger.