After it was announced how high the gas surcharge will be, the utility companies in the region fear that many customers will no longer be able to pay their gas bills in future because of the already higher prices.

For example, the Frankfurt energy supplier Mainova expects a growing number of people who could have payment difficulties and is therefore demanding that the state issue relief packages and make hardship regulations.

Daniel Schleidt

Coordinator of the economics department in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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The gas surcharge is a result of the Energy Security Act and corresponding regulations and is intended to compensate gas importers by April 2024 for a large part of the additional costs that they have because they have to buy replacement gas from Russia at higher costs.

On Monday it was announced that the gas levy will be 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour and will be levied from October.

Price increases of about 60 percent

A spokesman for Mainova told the FAZ that the company would have to pass the levy on to customers "to a certain extent".

Exactly what amount that should be has not yet been determined, the effects of the surcharge on the price calculation are being checked, it said.

This also applies to the Darmstadt Entega.

A spokesman said the company had no choice but to pass the levy on to consumers.

The Offenbacher Evo will also pass on the gas levy in October.

The Frankfurt utility Süwag also states that it intends to pass on the levies – in addition to the gas levy, a storage levy is also expected – “exactly” to customers, as Mario Beck, Managing Director of Süwag Vertrieb AG, said.

Many customers are now faced with an “enormous additional burden”, which stems from both the allocations and the wholesale prices.

It is true that Süwag is currently still able to dampen the prices that can be influenced because the gas was procured over the long term, "but the costs still come up to the customers".

Because of the warm season, the higher gas prices are not yet noticeable to many consumers.

So far, the prices have remained stable for two-thirds of Süwag's 126,000 private gas customers because they have long-term contracts;

the other part has already had to accept price adjustments, says Beck.

So far, before the levy, there has been an average increase of around 60 percent compared to the previous year.

A classic single household with an annual consumption of around 8000 kilowatt hours costs around 480 euros more per year, for an average family of four with around 20,000 kilowatt hours there are around 1200 euros per year in additional expenses, including sales tax.

Mainova states that it last adjusted the price in the "Mainova natural gas classic" basic tariff in July.

According to a spokesman, the background was the significantly increased wholesale prices.

"The company could not escape this market situation, despite a predominantly long-term and forward-looking procurement strategy," it says there.

In the basic tariff with an annual consumption of 12,000 kilowatt hours, the annual costs have increased by around 24 euros a month compared to the beginning of the year, which corresponds to an increase of around 24 percentage points.

Paradoxical situation for energy suppliers

The whole situation is currently paradoxical for energy suppliers, said a spokesman for Darmstadt-based Entega.

The costs that companies face as a result of new customers who have to accept them as basic suppliers cannot be covered by the proceeds.

Accordingly, many regional suppliers admit that they are not currently looking for new customers: "In view of the current market situation, we are refraining from actively acquiring new private customers," said the Mainova spokesman.

Süwag manager Beck also reported that new customer business is currently very limited, "due to the very difficult situation, the supply of existing customers has priority".

The rising energy prices hit the middle of society as well as medium-sized companies, said Entega CEO Marie-Luise Wolff in her capacity as President of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries.

The federal government should therefore discuss a temporary reduction in VAT on electricity and gas.