Taxes and levies on electricity reach all-time high

Household electricity prices reached an all-time high at an average of 29.16 cents per kilowatt hour (ct/kWh) in February 2017, compared to 28.8 ct/kWh in 2016, writes utility association BDEW in its current power price analysis. This was down to record costs for taxes and levies, which will amount to more than 35 billion euros for households in 2017, says BDEW. “In light of these figures we have to discuss how we can reasonably design the financing of the energy transition in the future,” BDEW head Stefan Kapferer said in a press release. 55 percent of the household power price is taxes and levies, while only 19.3 percent is procurement and distribution costs, says BDEW. These continued their fall for the fifth year in a row. Grid fees are the second largest factor and make up 25.7 percent of the average household power price.

Find the BDEW data in German here and the press release in German here.

For background on power prices read the CLEW factsheet What German households pay for power.

Also read the CLEW article Germany debates form of renewables support as levy rises.