German gas grid operators undecided whether to hike fees now to avoid future cost explosion – media report

Many gas grid operators in Germany have not decided yet whether to use the possibility to increase their fees now in order to protect their dwindling customers from a massive price hike in the future, reports business daily Handelsblatt. Several large operators told the newspaper they are still weighing their options, with some signalling they could imagine to use the proposal by the country's grid regulator BNetzA, which has suggested to bring financing costs forward to keep costs under control as Germany phases out the use of natural gas for heating. "In view of the diminishing supply task and the associated decline in the number of customers and grid users, the remaining time should be used to refinance the investments already made in a socially responsible manner on the basis of a still large number of customers," said the operator Netzgesellschaft Berlin-Brandenburg (NBB). Business consultancy Rödl & Partner said a large majority of their clients are planning to make use of the proposal. Customers will find out how many grid operators have signed up to the proposal in October, when the new grid fees are published.

German customers may have to pay between 20 and 40 percent more in gas grid charges by 2025 if their operators make use of the new possibility to calculate fees, according to the article. Grid charges will rise as more customers switch to climate-friendly technologies like heat pumps and fewer people use gas for heating because the existing network will still have to be financed. In the most extreme case, the final gas customer would have to pay for the entire grid alone. To avoid such scenarios, the Federal Network Agency has proposed increasing fees now and spreading the cost among customers. The proposal offers operators who were planning to use the grid up to 2050 and beyond the possiblity to refinance their grids by 2045 - the date by which Germany plans to be climate neutral - or even earlier.  

Compared to the total price customers pay for gas, grid charges are relatively low, the article says. Average grid prices for households are around 1.81 cent per kilowatt hour, 1.51 cent for commercial customers and 0.39 cent for industry. A 40 percent increase would mean a real cost rise of about 1 cent per kilowatt hour depending on the type of customer, according to Rödl & Partner. But industry representatives told Handelsblatt that the amount was "not peanuts".  In April, German utilities called for state money to help grid decommissioning and avoid high grid fees for customers.