The cost of gas has exploded within a year. An end to the unpleasant development is not in sight. Many regional basic suppliers have announced further price increases. In addition, a gas allowance is threatened.
Gone are the days when everything had a price and nothing had any value. Both are currently valid. And it sometimes has to be paid twice or three times over. At least when it comes to gas, as a current study by the comparison portal Verivox shows.
Accordingly, the gas price level for households reached a new record in August. Year-on-year, average prices have risen by around 184 percent. As a result, gas costs for private customers have almost tripled. If a family with a gas consumption of 20,000 kWh paid 1,258 euros a year in August 2021, the current average is 3,568 euros.
“There has never been a gas price of almost 18 cents per kilowatt hour for households in Germany. However, the price will rise significantly higher, because wholesale gas prices are currently well above this level adjust to rising prices,” says Thorsten Storck, energy expert at Verivox.
The trend towards gas price increases across the board is continuing: for August, September and October, local basic gas suppliers have announced 136 price increases by an average of 50 percent. This corresponds to additional costs of around 946 euros per year.
In addition, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced an additional gas surcharge to cushion the sharp rise in wholesale prices, which all gas customers are to pay. The surcharge coming from October should be between 1.5 and 5 cents per kWh. For a family with an annual consumption of 20,000 kWh, this means additional costs of between 357 and 1190 euros, taking VAT into account.
According to the study, the total annual costs for the model household would then be up to 4758 euros, which would correspond to a price increase of 278 percent – the prices would have almost quadrupled compared to August 2021.
