Berlin Gas customers have to reckon with additional costs before the winter despite ongoing contracts. From October, the federal government will implement a surcharge to relieve gas importers, as government circles said on Thursday.
It hits household or industrial customers with long-term contracts and could – in extreme cases – cost a four-person household an additional burden of almost 1000 euros a year. Chancellor Olaf Scholz had given an estimate of 300 euros.
The surcharge is used to pay the extra costs that importers have to pay for the short-term, expensive replacement of Russian gas that is not delivered despite contracts. 90 percent of these costs can be passed on.
Paragraph 26 of the Energy Security Act is to come into force by ministerial decree: From October, the difference between the current tariffs and the extra costs of the importers can then be determined and distributed equally among all customers, government representatives said.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Municipal utilities, for example, can then also pass them on to household customers. First, the allocation is calculated on the basis of an assumption of the costs and then offset against the actual costs afterwards. The first figures could be known from August. Payments will probably not be due directly from October but a little later.
Also read on the topic:
Irrespective of the levy, strong price increases must be expected anyway when contracts expire or are regularly adjusted.
More: What you should now consider when replacing oil and gas heating