As if horrendous electricity and gas prices weren’t enough, network costs are now rising too. In contrast to the free market, however, this could be prevented.
Electricity and gas regulations for the New Year are fluttering into the homes of many Viennese. A huge shock to some. But now not only the energy prices themselves, but also the network costs are rising. This particularly affects the Viennese, who are worse off with ‘their’ Wien Energie than customers from Lower Austria and Burgenland. Why? Because the municipality charges a usage fee of six percent on network services.
From 1 January 2023, the network costs will increase by about 100 euros per three-person household (with a consumption of 3500 kWh) and year. This is an increase of approximately 36 percent (see chart).
But why is that? The extremely high electricity prices are also to blame for this. The energy bill consists on the one hand of taxes, network costs and the energy itself. Unlike energy, network costs are regulated. “E-Control determines how much money the operators need. And this amount is ultimately distributed among the users,” explains AK expert Josef Thoman.
Energy producers benefit from this again
An extra billion is needed next year. The reason for this is the sharply increased costs for grid losses. This is because power losses occur for physical reasons when power is transferred. The network operators must buy these back at market prices. And these have just increased tremendously. However, this also means that the electricity generators, especially Verbund, are taking advantage of the higher costs and making even more excess profits.
Legislative change needed
“The federal government can put an end to this with a change in the law,” says Thoman. Because instead of paying the exorbitant market price for the grid losses, the providers have to make the electricity available – at the price of the actual generation costs plus a profit mark-up. Everyone would benefit from that. Especially the customers, who would then have to pay less for energy.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
