“Record number of power cut-offs in 2015”

A record 359,319 German households had their power cut off at some point in 2015, equal to 0.9 percent of all household customers, the website strom-report.de reports based on the Federal Network Agency's (BNetzA) annual monitoring report. A total of 6.3 million power supply connections were under threat of cut off, meaning one in seven connections was in arrears with its electricity bill, according to the website. Suppliers have the right to cut transmissions when customers owe more than 100 euros. In 2015, they cut power supply for households owing 119 euros on average. According to strom-report.de, cut-offs in Germany have increased by 12.7 percent since 2011, “with electricity costs soaring by 14.2 percent over the same period presumably being one of the main reasons.”