In Germany, residents will have to prepare for a massive increase in gas costs from the fall. That should support gas importers, they say.
As Trading Hub Europe, a joint venture of gas transmission system operators in Germany, announced on Friday, the state gas surcharge will be 2,419 cents per kilowatt-hour. With the imposition, the increase in acquisition costs is passed on by importers to customers.
For a household with a single-family house and an annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt-hours, the additional costs are around 484 euros per year. Added to this is VAT. However, the German government wants to prevent this from becoming due.
Allocation appears with a delay
The German Economy Ministry recently assumed a range of 1.5 to 5 cents per kilowatt hour. The rate applies from the beginning of October. However, it will not be immediately visible on invoices, but with a slight delay, according to the ministry. For consumer protection reasons, there are notice periods in the Energy Sector Act of four to six weeks that must be observed. Therefore, the surcharge will likely appear on accounts for the first time in November/December.
War in Ukraine as “External Shock”
The Economy Ministry sees the fee as a result of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. This has drastically exacerbated the already tense situation in energy markets. Since mid-June, Russia has unpredictably reduced its gas import volumes to Germany, thus creating an artificial energy shortage and driving up prices.
This “external shock” is particularly affecting Germany, which until now has been heavily dependent on cheap gas from Russia. Many gas deliveries from Russia, which were previously contractually guaranteed, are no longer available.
Importers with significant losses
Gas importers, however, have delivery obligations to their customers, especially municipal utilities. Importers can only meet these delivery obligations by replacing lost quantities from Russia by purchasing significantly more expensive quantities on the short-term market. So far, these additional costs cannot be passed on.
The result: significant losses were incurred by importers. That’s why the German federal government agreed to a billions worth of rescue package with the utility Uniper – and in the process, the gas surcharge as well. This is in addition to market-related price increases, which are gradually reaching customers.
Single navigation account Time 08.15.2022, 19:11| Act: 08/15/2022, 19:11