As of this week, energy suppliers no longer pay a gas levy. But when do households benefit from this? Consumer Minister Lemke demands that companies pass on the relief directly.
Consumer Minister Steffi Lemke has called on gas suppliers to pass on the relief from the abolition of gas levies directly to customers. “Even if natural gas prices for consumers no longer reach the peak values of the crisis year of 2022, they will still remain at a high long-term level,” said the Green politician to the dpa news agency. “With the elimination of two surcharges, the procurement of gas will now be cheaper for gas suppliers.”
“Substantial Facilitations in energy costs”
Therefore, the utility companies are now required to pass on this relief directly. “This can significantly reduce energy costs, especially for low-income households,” says Lemke. “Consumers should not have to wait until the next price calculation to pass on information.”
Since October 1st, two surcharges that make up part of the gas price for household customers have been eliminated for gas suppliers. So far, the so-called control energy levy has been charged at 0.57 cents per kilowatt hour. The conversion levy was 0.038 cents per kilowatt hour. Both will now be reduced to zero cents each for an initial period of one year. With an annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours, this results in a total of 121.60 euros.
The utilities must pass on the levies to the company THE, which is responsible for the German gas market area. They usually pass the costs on to their end customers. However, it is still unclear how consumers will ultimately benefit from the reduction. According to the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry (BDEW), suppliers only have to pass on the change during the next price calculation.
Municipal economy for longer sales tax discount
Meanwhile, the German municipal sector has also commented on relief for consumers. The Association of Municipal Companies (VKU) is calling for the reduced sales tax rate for gas and heat deliveries to be retained until March next year. Otherwise, there is a risk that municipal utility customers will be overloaded in the middle of winter. At the same time, however, the energy price brakes should expire at the end of the year as planned.
The brakes on electricity and gas prices cap the price of a large part of private household consumption. The upper limit of the price brake is 40 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity and 12 cents per kilowatt hour for gas. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) advocates an extension of around a quarter of a year until Easter. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) supports the plan, but at the same time calls for the VAT on natural gas to be increased again from seven to 19 percent at the beginning of the year, three months earlier.
“If the federal government believes that energy consumers still need to be protected from unexpectedly high price jumps, then the federal government should maintain the reduced sales tax rate,” explained VKU general manager Ingbert Liebing. “The proposed extension of the price caps while simultaneously increasing the reduced sales tax rate, however, lacks any logic, is not very efficient, may not be technically affordable in time and is therefore not effective.”