From January, households will have to pay an average of around 11 euros more for energy. Tariffs for electricity and gas networks are increasing by up to 23 percent across Austria. There are two reasons for this.
After the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission, it is now clear: from January, households and businesses will have to pay much more for electricity and gas. As reported, this concerns the network costs that every consumer receives on his bill, regardless of his energy supplier.
Rates are rising, but there are regional differences
In concrete terms, the electricity rate for all consumers will increase by 19 percent and for households even by 23 percent. Given the generally assumed average consumption of 3,500 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year, this results in approximately 73 euros in additional costs for the private consumer, which amounts to 6.10 euros per month.
Anyone who uses natural gas pays 16.6 percent more for an annual consumption of 15,000 kWh. That’s about 5 euros extra per month. In total, a household will have to pay an average of 11 euros per month deeper into its pockets.
However, there are regional differences. For electricity, network rates are rising more sharply in Upper Austria, Lower Austria and Burgenland than in the rest. There is even a reduction in the fee for gas in Graz.
Electricity consumption will increase significantly
This is due to the higher taxes. Firstly, it reflects the high level of investment in the electricity grid required by the transformation of the energy system towards more “green” energy sources. Additional producers (PV systems, wind turbines, biogas plants, etc.) are constantly being added to the network, which therefore needs to be adapted. In addition, electricity consumption will increase significantly. Conclusion: “Last year, 2.5 billion euros were collected through user fees, so this year it is already 3 billion euros,” explains Alfons Haber, board member of the energy authority E-Control. This total is distributed among all consumers.
The second reason is the noticeable decrease in consumption via the electricity and gas networks. When it comes to electricity, for example, almost six percent less electricity has been exchanged over the lines recently due to the many partial self-suppliers with PV systems in the home. The high costs must therefore be spread over a smaller quantity sold, which increases the contribution per consumer.
Less gas consumption thanks to mild weather
For gas, the volume even fell by around seven percent, partly due to the switch to other heating systems, mild winters and the economic downturn, which dampens industrial consumption.
Assuming that the electricity price brake ends in January and that electricity and natural gas taxes increase, energy bills for all consumers are likely to be noticeably higher.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
