The rates for the electricity and gas network will go up next year. For electricity, there will be significantly higher costs in January 2023, mainly due to the increase in electricity prices in the markets, despite announced government measures. “Everywhere except in Tyrol there are extra costs for gas,” reports E-Control on Tuesday. However, these are lower than with the electricity grid.
“Part of the network costs – the costs of network loss – are directly influenced by the prices in the electricity markets and therefore these price increases also affect the network costs,” explains E-Control board member Alfons Haber about the electricity network. “An increase in network tariffs is of course anything but pleasant for consumers. It is all the more important that these high rates do not end up with the consumer as a whole, but are absorbed by government measures.”
The law is intended to absorb 60 percent of the additional costs
An accompanying law will be introduced in December that will make it possible to absorb about 60 percent of the additional costs in the electricity grid in the first half of 2023. The federal government is making 260 million euros available for this purpose. “E-Control’s board of directors is already making all preparations to implement the necessary measures so that an amendment to the system usage fee regulation can be enacted by the regulatory commission very soon in the new year,” says Haber.
The network operators have also signaled to E-Control that they are not currently making any changes to the settlement, certainly not for small consumers, but that the effects are being included in the regulations by leveling them off. “As such, most consumers should feel the support without fluctuating payment obligations.”
107 euros extra costs for an average household per year
If the grid usage and grid loss costs are considered together, excluding the planned lighting, electricity grid costs for industry, households and commerce in Austria will be on average almost 45 percent higher from 2023 onwards. For an average household with an annual consumption of 3500 kWh, the increase in network costs is slightly lower at over 41 percent and amounts to around 107 euros per year or just under 9 euros per month.
The measures currently being taken will cushion about 60 percent of the increase in network loss costs. However, due to the measures “the total cost development will not be reflected in this amount. However, it is not yet possible to reliably determine the exact figure for the whole of 2023,” writes E-Control.
Plus 3.50 euros per month for gas
Depending on the state, network tariffs for gas make up less than 20 percent of the total gas bill, the rest being the cost of gas supply and taxes and levies. “For an average gas-fired household with an annual consumption of 15,000 kilowatt hours, network tariffs in Austria will rise on average by 13 percent or 3.50 euros per month,” calculates E-Control CEO Wolfgang Urbantschitsch.
Source: Krone
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