Millions of citizens suffer from high energy costs. That is why the federal government wants to relieve consumers in 2023. Gas and electricity are getting cheaper. New calculations show how much that brings. The important thing here is that those who save additional energy benefit the most.
The German state is spending billions of euros to relieve the burden on German citizens of the immense energy costs. According to calculations by the federal government, a family of four can save up to 95 euros a month simply thanks to the gas price brake. The effects of the electricity price brake are added and bring even more relief.
Both price brakes start on March 1st, 2023 and apply retrospectively from January. Consumers automatically benefit from the relief: either the energy supplier or the landlord calculates the deduction.
Based on the above-mentioned price brakes, the comparison portal Check24 has calculated how much consumers can save with the two price brakes if they also consume 20 percent less energy. The “Bild” newspaper reported on this.
Model household: family lives in a terraced house; Gas consumption: 20,000 kWh per year
At the current market prices – without a gas price brake – the gas costs amount to 3200 euros a year. If the household consumes an unchanged amount of gas in 2023, the gas price brake will push expenses down to 2560 euros. So 640 euros less.
The family will save even more if they reduce their gas consumption by 20 percent next year. Then she only has to shell out 1,920 euros for her gas bill. The total saving is 1280 euros – almost 107 euros per month.
If the model family really hits the brakes when it comes to gas consumption, even higher amounts are possible. If she saves 30 percent, she only has to pay 1,600 euros. So only half. Because the family gets the 640 euros savings thanks to the gas price brake, even if they consume less than 80 percent of the previous year’s amount.
So if the family massively throttles their gas consumption, they can halve their gas costs – compared to prices without a brake.
However, such high savings are only realistic if the family has wasted a lot of gas so far – and changes their behavior completely in 2023. Check24 also points out that such enormous cost savings are only possible with a gas supplier change, as the report states.
In addition to the amounts mentioned above, there is also the electricity price brake. For this purpose, Check24 determined the following sums for a family with a power consumption of 5000 kWh:
The current market price without electricity price brake amounts to 2135 euros per year. If the model household consumes the same amount of electricity in 2023 as in 2022, the electricity price brake will push the costs down to 2027 euros. The saving is therefore 108 euros, or 9 euros per month.
If the family succeeds in reducing its current electricity consumption by 20 percent in 2023, the electricity costs will only be 1600 euros. So you save 535 euros thanks to the electricity price brake and lower consumption. This leaves her almost 45 euros more in her wallet every month. Alone with the electricity.
