Consumers and companies are now spared from this, while the energy suppliers have already spent a lot of money on the gas levy.

According to the Darmstadt-based company Entega, going back and forth in Berlin will cost around 300,000 euros.

Süwag is also assuming a three-digit amount that it cost to recalculate the gas tariffs, to set appropriate discounts, to inform customers about this - and now to do the role backwards.

Inga Janovic

Editor in the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and responsible editor of the business magazine Metropol.

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The Wiesbaden ESWE speaks of a "considerable logistical and personnel effort".

"But you can imagine the nervous strain our colleagues are exposed to," says a spokesman.

While some have already had to create new price models several times this year and others have had to enter the changed data into the IT systems, the stress finds its “highlight among those who are confronted daily with the displeasure of the citizens in direct contact”, the speaker further explains.

After all, the cancellation of the gas levy means a breather in the price rally for the energy supply.

The kilowatt price for natural gas is now 2.4 cents below the amount that the suppliers had announced as of October 1st.

For some, the most recent price shock is being mitigated even more, because some providers had not yet priced in the reduction in VAT from 19 to 7 percent in the most recently published tariffs.

The tax cut, which is initially limited to March 2024, was only officially decided last Friday.

All providers want to pass the tax reduction on to their customers, and of course nobody will collect the levy, the companies assure.

However, some of them do not want to announce the good news in writing for the time being.

An Entega spokesman said somewhat casually that the cancellation of the gas surcharge was already known via "Funk und Medien".

Mainova specifies that customers will be informed via the website and social media channels, customer service and a public announcement.

At ESWE, people are already calculating again

At ESWE in Wiesbaden, on the other hand, the calculations are back on: "We are currently calculating the new working price without a gas levy and with seven percent VAT and are also reducing the last deductions that were set," says the spokesman.

The discounts are now likely to have been set too high again, not only for ESWE customers.

If you want to lower it, you should contact your provider.

This also applies to customers who want to be sure that the respective tariffs are billed exactly: they can read their meter readings on the respective key date and report them to their supplier.

In the meantime, the suppliers are waiting to see what the Berlin coalition will decide next before setting tariffs and advance payments and informing them in the form of a letter.

They are hoping for information as soon as possible on the structure of the announced gas price brake and the cap on the electricity price.

A commission of experts is currently brooding over the right instruments for this purpose. It originally wanted to take until the end of October to present its recommendations.

But even the Federal Minister of Economics feels that this is taking too long, and he urges us to hurry.

Federal Network Agency is worried

The nearly two dozen members of the commission include Entega boss Marie-Luise Wolff.

As President of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management, she represents the municipal energy suppliers there and in this role has already held a number of consultations with the federal government in recent months.

Meanwhile, it got cold for the first time this autumn, and not only the Federal Network Agency was concerned about gas consumption.

It was unusually high for the end of September, as confirmed by the first estimates by utilities in the Rhine-Main region.

This is mainly due to the fact that temperatures since mid-September have been significantly lower than in the same period of the past three years.

Whether households save gas or not can only be seen after a longer period of time.