Household energy prices in Germany almost a third higher than before Ukraine war started – analysis
Clean Energy Wire
Households in Germany continue to pay higher energy prices compared to pre-energy crisis levels, price comparison website Verivox said on the three-year mark of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, which catalysed the skyrocketing energy prices. An average household pays 31 percent more on average for energy than in pre-war year 2021, it said.
"Although energy costs have fallen by a third from their October 2022 peak, they remain well above pre-war levels," said Verivox energy expert Thorsten Storck. According to the analysis, an average three-person household with an annual heating requirement of 20,000 kilowatt hours (kWh), electricity consumption of 4,000 kWh and annual car mileage of 13,300 kilometres currently spends 5,407 euros a year on energy. In 2021, the figure was 4,121 euros.
"In addition to the increased procurement costs, higher gas network fees and the rising CO2 price on fossil fuels are driving prices," Verivox wrote. "A return to the energy cost level before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine is currently not in sight," Storck added.
German households and industry have been facing higher gas prices since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and due to the intensifying geopolitical tensions between Russia and the west. Additionally, households must shoulder increasing heating costs as a result of a politically induced rise in CO2 prices.
