The gas price for customers of Stadtwerke München (SWM) will fall by almost half from October 1st. The municipal energy supplier had already announced this step in May, and now it will definitely be implemented. An SWM spokesman confirmed that gas costs would fall by around 40 percent at the start of the heating season. This applies to all private and commercial customers who have not concluded a contract with a fixed price. A month later, electricity will also be cheaper: the price will be reduced by 20 percent as of November 1, according to the municipal utility.
This will be noticeable for customers above all when the state price brakes for electricity and gas expire at the end of the year, as announced. After the Stadtwerke decided to reduce the prices, they can immediately take the new prices into account when calculating advance payments. For customers who have already received their annual bill in the past few weeks or months, the new prices have not yet been incorporated. They can reduce the amount of the discount themselves online or contact customer service to discuss the future payment municipal utilities.
For a household with an annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours at the basic rate, SWM calculated the difference as an example. Without the state price brake, which is due to expire at the end of 2023, a discount of 362.10 euros would be due. Now it will be 199.10 euros. According to Stadtwerke, the difference of 163 euros cannot be converted across the board for all customers because it is only a guide value.
The working price for gas is reduced in the basic tariff from 21.09 cents to 11.31 cents per kilowatt hour and is thus below the state price cap of twelve cents. The reduction is therefore 44.6 percent. A look at comparison portals for gas providers shows that the public utilities are catching up with the competition again after a high-price phase, but are still at the bottom of the list of suppliers. The cheapest providers sell gas from around 8.5 cents, and the basic costs vary.
For a long time, SWM was considered a reliable provider at a very reasonable price. Until January 1, 2022, the basic rate for a kilowatt hour was 5.6 cents. At the turn of the year 2022, this price rose to 7.18 cents. As a result, the gas costs for customers exploded due to the war in Ukraine in further steps to the current high of 21.09 cents. Suddenly, the municipal utilities were among the most expensive suppliers in Germany – and admitted to mistakes. Compared to other large providers, SWM bought at short notice, explained Managing Director Florian Bieberbach in an SZ interview at the beginning of the year. This has led to relatively low prices for 15 years. “But the strategy didn’t work last year. We were forced to buy large quantities at top prices last summer.”
The comparable household with a consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours would have had to pay 4345.22 euros per year at the current gas prices. After the reduction in October, this sum is reduced to 2389.22 euros. But the state energy price brake has also been in effect for gas retrospectively since January 1, 2023. An upper limit of 12 cents applies to 80 percent of the previous year’s consumption. This means that Stadtwerke’s customers are among the biggest beneficiaries of this help from the federal government.
However, it is very difficult for suppliers, including Stadtwerke München, to calculate the effects of the energy price brake and to keep customers up to date. On the one hand, this is due to the constant amendments to the law in Berlin and, on the other hand, to the enormously complex implementation. The Stadtwerke therefore recommend that you take action yourself if you are unsure and contact the advice centres. Anyone who has problems paying the arrears that have accumulated due to the long absence of advance payments or annual accounts should also contact the advisors. The Stadtwerke promise that a solution will be found.