In the new year, the energy crisis is not over with significantly higher prices than before.

On the contrary: At the turn of the year, many suppliers increased their prices again.

According to the comparison portal Check24, there are more than 660 cases in their database of electricity price increases in the basic supply.

Around 7.6 million households are affected.

On average, the increases are 60.2 percent.

Energy price brakes should help against such price increases for electricity, gas and heat.

There are also other changes at the turn of the year.

An overview:

When will the energy price brakes apply?

For citizens and small and medium-sized companies, the price brakes will apply from March.

They also include the months of January and February retrospectively.

Consumers do not have to do anything to benefit from the relief.

The suppliers take care of this.

No application needs to be made.

In the case of direct customers, the relief comes from lower deductions.

Tenants usually receive the relief with the utility bill.

The price brakes are effective for the whole of 2023. According to the law, an extension until April 2024 is possible.

How does the gas and district heating price brake work?

For households and smaller companies, 80 percent of the annual natural gas consumption forecast for September 2022 will be capped at 12 cents per kilowatt hour and for district heating at 9.5 cents, both gross.

The state pays the difference.

For everything that goes beyond that, the price contractually agreed with the energy supplier applies.

This is intended to encourage consumers to save as much gas and heat as possible despite the help.

If you have used less, you save for every kilowatt hour saved at the new, high contract price - even if you have saved more than 20 percent.

The Federal Association of Consumer Centers writes: “The more you limit your consumption, the more help you get with electricity, gas and district heating.

This also applies beyond the 80 percent - if you consume less than just 80 percent,

How does the electricity price brake work?

As for gas and district heating: 80 percent of the previous year's consumption by households and small companies will be capped - at 40 cents per kilowatt hour gross.

If you consume more, the new high price in the supply contract must be paid in full for each additional kilowatt hour.

As with gas and heat, each kilowatt hour saved is also included in the contract price for electricity, even if you have saved more than 20 percent of the previous annual consumption.

A subsidy worth billions is also intended to keep the grid fees to be borne by all electricity consumers stable.

Are there also price brakes for liquid gas, heating oil or wood pellets?

no

However, there should be a hardship fund.

According to the Association of Consumer Centers, households that heat with fuels such as heating oil, pellets or liquid gas should, under certain conditions, be financially relieved retrospectively from January 1, 2022 to December 1, 2022.

Consumers must present an invoice from 2022.

The prerequisite is that at least double the previously usual price was paid.

Will there also be changes to VAT at the turn of the year?

no

For natural gas and district heating, it was reduced from 19 to 7 percent on October 1, 2022.

The consumer centers assume that this also extends to liquid gas.

The reduction should apply until the end of March 2024.

Are there other changes for renters?

Yes, because landlords have to pay the climate tax for heating with oil or gas from January onwards.

Previously, tenants had to pay the CO2 tax themselves.

The benchmark is the energetic quality of the respective building.

The worse, the higher the proportion of landlords.

In the case of particularly high-emission buildings, these must bear up to 95 percent of the CO2 tax.

In the case of particularly low-emission buildings, tenants will continue to pay the CO2 tax themselves in the future.

According to consumer advice centers, what is also new is that from 2023 properties heated with district heating will also be subject to the CO2 tax.

Are there also changes for renewable energies?

Yes, for photovoltaic home systems: From January 2023, a sales tax rate of zero percent will apply to private systems.

According to the NRW consumer center, the systems are 19 percent cheaper.

This must be taken into account by the installation company when preparing the offer.

The tax treatment of PV systems was only changed in mid-December.

According to the taxpayers' association, income from investments on or in single-family houses or buildings that are not intended for residential purposes will be tax-exempt retrospectively from January 1, 2022.

This applies to installed systems with a gross output of up to 30 kilowatts.

The tax exemption applies regardless of the date the system was commissioned and the use of the electricity generated.

So far, the exemption only applied to systems up to 10 kilowatts.