Significant relief for customers: green electricity surcharge drops to 3.7 cents

Significant relief for customers
Green electricity surcharge drops to 3.7 cents

Energy prices are currently going through the roof. Above all, poorer households are heavily burdened. At least a look at the electricity bill next year should provide some relaxation: The federal government is apparently planning to lower the EEG surcharge with the help of a billion-dollar subsidy.

In the midst of soaring energy prices, German consumers will be relieved, at least when it comes to electricity: the surcharge to promote green electricity will be reduced by a good 40 percent in 2022, thanks to a government subsidy of billions, said government and industry representatives. The so-called EEG levy, which in principle all consumers have to pay, falls to just over 3.7 cents per kilowatt hour from the current 6.5 cents.

In the past, the surcharge made up around a quarter of the total electricity price for private households. For an average three-person household, the reduction means a relief of around 100 euros over the next year. Many industrial companies will also benefit from the reduction. The four major power grid operators want to publish the amount of the EEG surcharge on Friday. Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier will then also express himself in view of the high energy prices. The Ministry declined to comment on the information.

The recent rapid increases in fuel, gas and electricity prices shortly before the onset of winter have alarmed governments across Europe. The economic upturn after the Corona crisis and emptied gas storage facilities after a severe winter had driven prices. The gas price also has a significant influence on electricity prices.

Electricity prices could remain almost stable in 2022

During the Corona crisis, electricity prices on the stock exchanges had collapsed. Since the renewable energy surcharge (EEG surcharge) compensates for the difference between the guaranteed, higher purchase prices for solar and wind parks and the tariffs on the stock exchange, it threatened to rise to almost ten cents. The government therefore pledged a total of eleven billion euros so that the surcharge does not increase too much. Now the situation is reversed: Since electricity prices are currently at a record high on the stock exchanges, the difference to be compensated is small. This alone would have reduced the surcharge to 4.3 cents.

Since the federal government is also adding another 3.25 billion euros, according to government circles, the surcharge will now be reduced to just over 3.7 cents in 2022. However, the consumer has to bear the increased prices on the stock exchange as well as increasing charges for the power lines. According to calculations by the Agora think tank, the lowering of the EEG surcharge could mean that the final price for households would remain more or less stable in 2022.

The electricity price and the levy are also important issues for the negotiations between the SPD, the Greens and the FPD. Affordable energy prices are important for the acceptance of climate protection. The SPD is committed to the complete abolition of the EEG surcharge. The FDP is also striving for this, the Greens want to at least lower it further.

This is to be financed, among other things, by the CO2 levy on fuel, gas and heating oil, which makes these fossil fuels even more expensive. Since Germany’s energy consumption is to be largely covered by wind and solar power in the future, low prices are considered to be central to promoting the expansion more quickly.

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