The planned surcharge for all gas customers is expected to apply from October 1st. It is not yet clear how much the gas price will increase for consumers as a result. The exact amount of the surcharge should be published on the Internet by the middle or end of August, according to circles of the Federal Ministry of Economics. It depends on which compensation claims the gas importers assert.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week called an increase in gas prices by two cents per kilowatt hour and spoke of additional annual costs of 200 or 300 euros for a family of four.
The consumer portal Check24 has calculated additional costs of 357 to 1190 euros per year for a four-person model household with an annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours, depending on the amount of the levy. This should be between 1.5 and 5 cents per kilowatt hour.
According to Check24, such a family paid 1,301 euros for their gas in July 2021, in July 2022 it is already 3,415 euros. With an allocation of 5 cents, the model family would face total costs of 4605 euros per year – an increase of 3304 euros or 254 percent compared to the previous year. A single household (500 kilowatt hours per year) has annual costs of between 89 and 298 euros.
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Legal problems are now threatening the implementation of the gas surcharge. Specifically, the question is whether customers with fixed-price contracts have to pay the levy. A spokesman for Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) spoke on Wednesday of a detail that had to be clarified.
The coalition is also considering eliminating VAT on the levy. The spokesman on energy policy for the FDP parliamentary group, Michael Kruse, told the German Press Agency on Wednesday after a special session of the Bundestag’s energy and climate committee. “The levy must not be a basis for further tax revenue. That’s why it’s currently being checked whether the VAT can be applied to the levy,” said Kruse.
“If this is not technically possible, it is clear to me that the additional government revenue must be returned to consumers together with further relief,” says Kruse.
Through the levy, suppliers should be able to pass on the sharp rise in purchase prices due to the throttling of Russian deliveries to all gas consumers. According to earlier information, it is planned that importers will be able to pass on 90 percent of the higher procurement costs via the levy. The importers still have to bear their own costs until the end of September. Both companies and private households have to pay the levy. It comes on top of the normal price increases that are gradually taking hold.
In view of the tense situation on the gas market, the surcharge is necessary in order to maintain the gas supply in the coming winter. “Without them, gas supply companies would be at risk throughout the supply chain,” the ministry said. The levy should be the same for all suppliers. This means that the burden is distributed fairly across many shoulders.
The details are to be regulated in a legal ordinance based on the Energy Security Act. The regulation is expected to be adopted by the cabinet shortly. The reimbursements for the importers are to be organized by the so-called market area manager Trading Hub Europe. The company is responsible for organizing the German gas market. The importers are obliged to include their additional costs exactly. The additional costs are then passed on to the end customers via the suppliers.
