Network fees are rising
Gas prices could rise significantly in 2025
October 13, 2024, 8:15 a.m
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According to a media report, the gas network operators want to significantly increase their fees – which should also have an impact on consumers. Accordingly, consumers who heat a single-family home with gas must expect additional costs of up to 445 euros.
According to a report, rising gas network fees could lead to additional costs for households amounting to a few hundred euros in the coming year. This is what the newspapers of the Funke media group report, citing an exclusive evaluation of the price comparison portal Verivox. Accordingly, individual network operators have announced increases in gas network fees of up to 56 percent. Consumers who heat a single-family home would have to expect additional costs of up to 445 euros.
According to the report, there are around 700 gas network operators in Germany. According to the report, the network operators evaluated by Verivox so far cover 43 percent of all households in Germany for gas.
It was also said that, according to Verivox, the average increase is currently around 25 percent, which corresponds to additional gross costs of around 116 euros for a single-family home with an annual consumption of 20,000 kWh. However, especially in the new federal states, a number of gas network operators announced even higher surcharges. The strongest increase was 56 percent, the Funke media quoted the comparison portal as saying. With a total annual consumption of 20,000 kWh, this is an increase of 445 euros.
Network usage fees are charged for the operation and maintenance of the lines. The costs for meter installation, reading and billing are also included. According to the Federal Network Agency, network fees currently make up a good ten percent of the gas price.
Decreased demand makes network fees more expensive
The Federal Network Agency also explained the price increases with reduced demand for gas. “In some regions there are more significant declines in volumes, which lead to increases in fees,” a spokesman for the authority told the Funke newspapers. The costs for the network must now be borne by fewer connected consumers.
According to Funke media, the Association of Municipal Companies (VKU) confirmed the price increases. “According to our current estimates, around a third to a quarter of gas network operators nationwide will soon apply the new depreciation rules,” said a VKU spokesman. The other gas network operators would then “follow suit”.
According to the report, Verivox energy expert Thorsten Storck said gas customers could hardly escape the higher gas prices. Nevertheless, they should “check whether there is a cheaper gas supplier, as the price differences between providers can be over 1000 euros per year”.