German consumers to pay more for gas in 2021
Clean Energy Wire
Higher costs for gas infrastructure and the new CO2 price in the heating sector are set to increase gas costs for German households in 2021, consumer comparison site Verivox has calculated. The platform estimates a two percent increase in gas grid fees, amounting to eight euros more per average household in a family home (with a use of 20,000 kilowatt-hours) per year. The new CO2 price of 25 euros per tonne will cause extra costs of 108 euros per year for an average household. Only falling prices at the wholesale market – which have decreased by almost one third since January 2020 – could alleviate the larger burden of heating costs, Verivox said. “If suppliers pass on the rising grid fees and the CO2 price in their entirety, gas could become 11 percent more expensive next year,” Thorsten Storck, energy expert at Verivox said in a press release. The platform used data from 84 percent of gas supply areas in Germany.
As agreed late last year, the German parliament in October approved a CO2 starting price of 25 euros per tonne as of 1 January, 2021. According to the environment ministry, this will result in one litre of petrol becoming 7 cents more expensive, diesel will be up 7.9 cents, heating oil 7.9 cents and natural gas 0.6 cents per kilowatt-hour. The revenue from the pricing scheme will be used to lower electricity costs and reimburse those with a long car commute to work. The Social Democrats in the government would also like to see landlords paying part of the increased heating costs so that not only tenants bear the extra burden, but a decision on such a scheme has not been agreed.
