For the coming year: Municipal utilities expect electricity prices to increase by up to 60 percent

Municipal energy suppliers expect electricity prices to rise sharply in the coming year.

So far, the price increases here have been around ten percent lower than for gas, for example because of the elimination of the EEG surcharge, said a spokesman for the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU) of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” on Friday.

For the coming year, however, "price increases of around 60 percent are expected".

In the case of gas, the end customers of the public utility companies would have to pay "currently often between 30 and 60 percent" more, the spokesman said.

However, some suppliers would have had to more than double their prices.

This development could continue "and possibly even worsen".

There are currently some indications that the market may have already priced in the Russian delivery stop.

"An early or severe winter could, however, unexpectedly increase gas consumption and possibly start the price spiral again," said the VKU spokesman for the newspaper.

Survey: Germans with economic expectations

Meanwhile, according to the current "Germany trend" for the ARD morning show, more than one in three adults in Germany (39 percent) expects to be unable to pay their energy bills next winter or only with considerable difficulty.

People with lower incomes and younger people in particular were concerned about their energy bills

58 percent of those who have a low monthly net household income (less than 1,500 euros) expect payment difficulties.

For households with a monthly net income of between 1,500 and 3,500 euros, it is almost half (47 percent).

Every second respondent under the age of 35 believes that winter energy costs are a major problem.

According to the survey, the significant increase in gas and electricity costs means that Germans are looking to the future with negative economic expectations.

More than eight out of ten respondents (83 percent) expected jobs to be lost.

Only 13 percent did not expect this.

Concern about job losses is widespread among supporters of all parties and in all age groups.

However, most people in Germany (59 percent) expect that there will be no power and gas supply failures in the winter months.

However, a good third (36 percent) fear such a scenario.

With the exception of the AfD supporters, a majority in the other parties does not expect supply outages to be imminent in Germany.