The price crisis has also left its mark on the Essen energy giant.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf After electricity suppliers have already announced delivery stops, the Essen-based energy giant Eon is now also suspending new customer business with natural gas contracts. Anyone wishing to sign a new contract will be informed on the group’s website that this is currently not possible: “Unfortunately, we cannot offer you any natural gas products at the moment,” it said on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the group confirmed to the Handelsblatt that business with new customers in the gas sector had been paused for the time being. However, he also emphasized that existing customers have nothing to fear: “Delivery is guaranteed at all times”. The new customer products are currently being revised. How long that will take cannot yet be said.
You will also look in vain for offers from Eon on the comparison portals Verivox and Check24. “The high energy prices are currently a big issue for all utilities. There are new prices every day, it has to be recalculated – there is a lot of movement, ”said a Verivox spokesman when asked by the Handelsblatt. With the exception of Eon and the Rheinische Elektrizitäts- und Gasversorgungsgesellschaft, known under the Immergrün brand, no major supplier has so far suspended their presence on the platform.
A few days ago the Rheinische Elektrizitäts- und Gasversorgungsgesellschaft surprised hundreds of customers with an abrupt end of delivery on October 19th. From then on, the electricity supply will be discontinued, it said in a letter. The company from Cologne did not give a reason for this. In the summer, however, it had already announced a price increase for its customers in view of the massive increases in electricity prices.
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The wholesale prices for electricity, gas and coal have been rising steadily for months. As early as September, the price for one megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity was sometimes over 200 euros – the highest value in ten years. On Monday it was almost 170 euros per MWh.
The price curve for gas is even steeper. The European price index TTF listed on Tuesday at just under 82 euros per MWh – on an annual average, a megawatt hour of gas normally costs between 15 and 20 euros. This means that natural gas is more than four times more expensive than usual.
For most German utilities, unlike in Great Britain, the energy price crisis is unlikely to lead to existential risks straight away. Companies such as Eon, municipal utilities and others usually secure themselves through long-term supply contracts at fixed prices – even one to two years in advance.
However, this does not apply to business with new customers. The gap between the asking prices with which new contracts are advertised and the record costs at which the additional natural gas or electricity must be purchased in the current wholesale business is simply too big to make a profit.
In the next few weeks, several electricity and gas providers should therefore stop advertising for new customers. However, in the eyes of consumer advocates, completely stopping the regional supply, as the Rheinische Elektrizitäts- und Gasversorgungsgesellschaft did last week, is a very extreme step.
Because of numerous questionable practices, the Cologne-based company has repeatedly attracted attention since it was founded in 2011. It hit the headlines for excessive price increases and obscure behavior.
In addition to the brands Immergrün and Meisterstrom, according to Handelsblatt information, customers of the electricity providers Enstroga, Grüner Funke and Wunderwerk have now received post announcing the end of electricity supplies from October 20th. The letters are available to the Handelsblatt.
Affected customers now have time to look for a new provider. But even then, no one will be left without electricity: Anyone who does not take care of a new contract automatically slips into the local basic supply.
More: Gas price shock for the global economy – “Energy crisis is becoming a question of survival for many companies”
