Now it’s out: the gas surcharge will burden consumers by 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour from October. This makes gas purchases even more expensive. To find out how much and what else there is to know, read here.

In order to ensure security of supply in the coming autumn and winter, all market mechanisms of the gas market and the supply chains must be maintained for as long as possible in order to prevent gas traders from becoming insolvent and domino effects in the energy supply chain. To this end, the federal government is creating the possibility for gas importers to receive financial compensation for the additional costs of procuring replacement gas from October 2022, for a limited period of time. However, the companies will have to bear the higher costs themselves until the end of September.

In order to finance the compensation, a large part of the additional costs for the replacement gas will be spread over as many shoulders as possible from October via the so-called gas levy of 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) – initially on those of the energy suppliers. They then pass the levy on to the end consumer. Customers of companies who initially waive the levy must also pay it. But: The more companies refrain from claiming the surcharge, the lower it is likely to be.

The mechanism is limited to April 1, 2024. The allocation is billed monthly. It can be adjusted every three months.

So much for the plan, now for practice. How expensive is it now for consumers?

Expensive. It is not yet clear whether VAT of 19 percent will also be due on the allowance. The federal government has spoken out in favor of exempting the levy from VAT – contrary to European law.

According to calculations by the comparison portal Verivox, a gas surcharge of 2.419 cents including VAT would have the following effect for the different households:

The annual gas costs for the model household (20,000 kWh) amount to an average of 3568 euros in August 2022. With the introduction of the gas surcharge, the costs increase by 576 euros to 4144 euros. This corresponds to an additional burden of 16 percent.

In addition to the gas surcharge, consumers are faced with rising costs: local gas suppliers have announced 166 price increases by an average of 47.7 percent for August, September and October. This corresponds to additional costs of around 914 euros per year. The gas surcharge is not even taken into account here.

The suppliers thus pass the high purchase prices on to their customers. The import prices for natural gas, which are measured by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control, rose by a good 200 percent over the year. On the spot markets, where gas is traded at short notice, natural gas prices have increased more than sevenfold in the last twelve months.

When will the charge be visible on the customer’s invoice for the first time?

The surcharge will apply from October 1, 2022. However, it will not be visible immediately on the invoices, but with a slight delay, because there are notice periods of 4 to 6 weeks in the Energy Industry Act for consumer protection reasons, which must be observed. Therefore, the surcharge will probably be shown on the invoices for the first time in November/December with a slight delay.

Are district heating customers also affected by the surcharge?

District heating customers are currently not included. The question is currently under review.

Who checks the calculation of the additional costs?

The gas importers must have the additional procurement costs incurred certified by an auditor or other auditors specified in the regulation and only these actual additional procurement costs can be claimed by the gas importers. In addition, the Federal Network Agency, as an independent authority, has a monitoring function.

The federal government has promised “targeted relief”, especially for those who have little money and are particularly suffering from the price increases. Exactly which ones – there are no specifications yet.

Are gas customers planned to be relieved?

Yes, the federal government has already launched two relief packages in view of the high prices. More targeted relief will now follow. It is particularly important to her to support those who have little money and therefore suffer particularly from the price increases. The new relief that has been agreed so far includes a reform of the housing benefit and the introduction of citizen benefits. In addition, the rules on protection against dismissal for rental apartments and energy contracts are to be reviewed so that tenants who are overwhelmed will not have their rental contracts terminated or energy customers will not have their supply contracts terminated.

(This article was first published on Monday, August 15, 2022.)