This is how energy suppliers hide dynamic electricity tariffs

Dusseldorf Germany’s major electricity providers are currently playing hide and seek. More precisely: Hide tariffs. Since the beginning of the year, every electricity supplier with more than 100,000 customers has had to offer a so-called dynamic electricity tariff. The costs per kilowatt hour are not always the same, but are based on the current market price.

This should accelerate the energy transition. The idea: When there is a lot of solar or wind power in the grid, the power is cheap. This is exactly when consumers should use it, for example to charge their electric car or for the washing machine. On dark, windless days, electricity is expensive – and then there is less demand. In this way, customers could save money and at the same time relieve the power grids.

In addition, the tariffs should increase the incentive to install an intelligent electricity meter – a so-called smart meter. But the plans of the federal government are currently failing due to reality. Although most of the large electricity providers implement the legal requirements according to Handelsblatt research, they do so only formally.