NAnd things are happening faster than many Germans would like. At the end of the year, the government will cap the prices for electricity and gas and thus relieve the population of energy costs. After the fatal budget chaos, politicians had to reorganize their finances, which is why the energy price brake is ending earlier than planned.
So far it is like this: Electricity costs a maximum of 40 cents per kilowatt hour, the price for gas is a maximum of 12 cents – for 80 percent of your own consumption from the previous year. If the contract is more expensive, the state pays the difference. So anyone who has a provider that sells electricity or gas above this threshold should now think about their future energy supply.
The tariffs have become cheaper
The good news is: Many tariffs for new customers are already below the level of the energy price brake. By switching, households can save several hundred euros a year. Good, cheap electricity contracts are already available for 29 cents including a price fixation of 12 months, gas contracts for 9 cents, according to the comparison portal Verivox. The government price cap is currently primarily benefiting those customers who still have an older contract with a higher tariff or are on an expensive basic service tariff.
If you want to change your operator, you first have to check whether it is even possible that quickly. Basically, customers who get their energy from the basic supplier can cancel at any time with a relatively short notice of two weeks. The basic service includes all those who have not taken out a separate contract, either due to ignorance of the alternatives or out of convenience.
Those who are in special care, i.e. who have signed a contract with a provider, often have a more difficult time. Although these tariffs are often cheaper, they usually come with fixed terms of 12 or even 24 months.
The notice period can also be quite long in some cases; older contracts can often only be terminated once a year and are always renewed automatically. There was a new regulation in March 2022. Since then, the notice period after the end of the initial term can only be one month. Customers can get out of such contracts more easily. However, this only applies if the contract was concluded after this deadline.
Price increases are to be expected
If someone has an older contract, it could be worth getting a new one simply because of this legal change – as long as it makes sense in terms of price. Matthias Bauer from the Baden-Württemberg Consumer Center advises: “Consumers who can switch and whose amounts are significantly above the price cap should take care of this as quickly as possible.”
If you already have a provider whose price is below the price cap, you can keep your contract for the time being – although it is of course always worth looking for better offers on the market.
Especially since it is likely to become more expensive again in the next few months. Electricity and gas have recently become cheaper on the energy market – after energy prices shot up last year due to the Russian war of aggression. The escalating costs led the government to introduce the energy price cap in the first place. Now the market has recovered somewhat.
Despite this development, price increases for electricity and gas are to be expected in the coming months. This is because the state wants to cancel the planned subsidies for network fees. It was actually planned that the government would grant a grant of up to 5.5 billion euros from the economic stabilization fund in order to stabilize network charges and relieve the burden on citizens.
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