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Hedging: yes, discharge: no. On average, households in Germany are unlikely to benefit from an extension of the energy price brakes, because at the same time the full VAT rate on gas and district heating will be due again at the turn of the year. This is shown by an analysis by the comparison portal Verivox, which is available to SPIEGEL.
On Wednesday, the German government decided to extend the price brakes for electricity, gas and district heating by three months. Instead of expiring at the end of the year, the cost cap will now expire at the end of March. Until then, the gas price for private households will be capped at twelve cents per kilowatt hour, for district heating it will be 9.5 cents, for electricity 40 cents.
At the same time, the full VAT rate of 19 percent on gas and district heating is to apply again from January. After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the government had reduced it to seven percent – originally until the end of March 2024.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy emphasizes that the price brakes are primarily a safety mechanism. If there were to be another energy price crisis in the coming winter, households would be immune to cost increases. Meanwhile, the time for state relief is over.
The planned extension of the gas price brake until the end of March 2024 would reduce the average gas costs for a consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours from 2497 euros to 2460 euros, writes Verivox. However, due to the simultaneous adjustment of the value added tax, the annual costs then rose to 2516 euros. Gas is therefore even slightly more expensive – by 18 euros per year.
The main reason is that the price brake hardly relieves most consumers anyway. This is because the situation on the gas market has returned to normal in recent months. Outside of the expensive basic supply, new customer tariffs have long since fallen below the gas price cap again.
It's the same with electricity prices. Here, too, the price brake usually no longer plays a role for customers who have already switched to low-cost tariffs. By extending the electricity price brake, the average annual costs for a household with 4000 kilowatt hours of consumption will only fall from 1486 euros to 1480 euros, writes Verivox. This corresponds to a minus of 0.4 percent.
The federal government, on the other hand, is making significantly more through the early increase in value-added tax. The measure is expected to bring in about 2.1 billion euros, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The energy price brakes have so far cost the state around 32 billion euros. If there are new price surges in the winter, the company sees itself prepared: a total of around 91 billion euros is available for the energy protection shield.
Accordingly, consumers will still be covered until spring – the state will no longer relieve them from the beginning of 2024.