DLast year’s heating season was characterized by horror scenarios. Citizens in Germany wondered whether they would soon have to stand in the dark bathroom after a cold shower. The first authorities warned that older people should not stop heating completely out of economy because this could be dangerous to their health. And married couples argued about whether the heating could be turned up at least a little while watching TV in the evening – or whether watching “Tatort” in a winter jacket was the order of the day.
Now it’s winter again. And the heating season has so far turned out to be pleasingly different. The prices for heating oil and natural gas for consumers have not returned to the levels of previous years; but energy is at least significantly cheaper than it was a year ago.
The Internet portal Check24 has now calculated the heating expenses of different households for the months of September, October and November. It was taken into account that, according to figures from the German Weather Service, autumn was milder than a year ago, even though there was recently an unusually large amount of snow and ice.
For an average household with gas heating, the portal calculates heating costs of 446 euros for three months. That was 44 percent less than in the same period last year. A household with oil heating had to spend 441 euros in the same period. That was 33 percent less than in the same period last year.
What plays a role in both cases is that the determined heating requirement in kilowatt hours was unusually low this year, at least until the end of November. It was even lower than in the rather mild period of the previous year. Nevertheless, heating costs fell more sharply than heating demand because energy prices no longer reached the price peaks of last year.
Heating oil was most expensive in March 2022 in the period after the start of the Ukraine war. At that time, the mark of 200 euros per 100 liters was even exceeded – in the statistics of the Internet portal Heizoel24, to which 500 oil traders report their prices, this happened for the first time since records began. The price is now around 106 euros for 100 liters. That’s not exactly a gift, but it’s less than most of the time last year.
Prices midway between December 2022 and 2021
“We are almost exactly in the middle of the heating oil price levels from December 2021 and December 2022,” says Oliver Klapschus, the boss of Heizoel24. However, the average price for 100 liters of heating oil over the past ten years was only 73 euros. However, this value will not be achieved so easily again, partly because of the CO2-Price and other government interventions.
The stock market price of natural gas fell again relatively quickly after the energy crisis. Prices for consumers, on the other hand, initially remained at a high level due to the longer contract periods. According to figures from the Internet portal Verivox, the average natural gas price for a household is now 11.4 cents per kilowatt hour, and for new customers it is around 8 cents per kilowatt hour. At the height of the energy crisis just over a year ago it was around 40 cents.
However, one factor that plays a role here is that the VAT on natural gas is still reduced. On the other hand, there are also expensive tariffs for which the state gas price cap is currently still driving down the price. Both state interventions are due to expire. However, according to Verivox, around half of local suppliers have announced that they want to reduce gas prices at the end of the year.
“With the decrease compared to the previous year, heating costs are still above the pre-crisis level – with rising CO2price and stable gas prices, this will remain the case in the future,” writes the consulting company Co2online, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and publishes the heating index once a year together with the German Tenants’ Association. Homeowners should therefore plan to reduce consumption by modernizing their building and switching to heating systems using renewable energy.
In any case, the lower energy prices are an important reason why the inflation rate in Germany has recently fallen. In November, the rate was 3.2 percent according to the national calculation method of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and only 2.3 percent according to the European calculation method of the Harmonized Consumer Price Index (HICP). Energy prices were the most important relief factor, falling by 4.5 percent over the year.
Oil price fell below $80 a barrel
A lot depends on the price of oil. This has fallen significantly, particularly due to the weak situation in the global economy. The oil states’ attempts to boost it again with news of production cuts met with only moderate success. On Tuesday, a barrel (159 liter barrel) of the North Sea Brent variety cost just under $78 at times – last year it was almost $130 at times.
The American grade West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was recently quoted at $72 per barrel, after being at $124 at times last year.
However, government intervention also plays an important role in heating costs in Germany. In addition to a reduction in VAT and a gas price brake, there was, among other things, so-called emergency aid last year: In 2022, the state more or less completely covered households’ December advance payments for natural gas and district heating.
This will be clearly noticeable if you compare the heating costs for December this year with the previous year’s values. As a result, some economists expect the inflation rate to return to four before the decimal point this month. But this effect will also result in a smaller reduction in costs in the heating cost billing for the entire heating season.
#Comparison #heating #costs #expensive #heating