Status Quo
Due to the current extremely high procurement costs for electricity and gas, many energy suppliers can no longer offer their customers energy products at the usual conditions, or even at all. The suppliers of Green Electricity and Green Gas certified products are also affected by this price rally.
Backgrounds
- The pandemic: One of the main reasons for the continued rise in energy prices is the still unexpectedly high demand for energy. Following the pandemic-related decline in 2020, demand has been rising again since early summer, partly due to an increasing revival of the global economy.
- Political entanglements: The increased demand is countered by a shortage on the gas market: Because demand for gas is currently very high worldwide and imports to Europe have been reduced, the price has risen extremely. This is partly due to reduced gas supplies from natural gas exporting countries such as Russia.
- Gas prices: The price drivers of the current development are fossil fuels, and wholesale prices for natural gas in particular have skyrocketed. Since gas is used not only for heating but also to generate electricity in gas-fired power plants, the rise in the price of gas is also driving up electricity prices on the stock exchange.
Impact on consumers
Electricity and gas customers are currently encountering yawning emptiness in the tariffs or extremely high tariff costs, for example on vergleich-dich-gruen.de. Also many offerers accept up-to-date in principle no more Neukund*innen.
This is very frustrating but in the long run there is a good perspective: real green electricity.
The solution
Fast-track away from any fossil fuels - to exclusively renewable energy.
More green power would bring prices down again, because:
- Germany would be less dependent on imports of fossil fuels
- Electricity production from renewable energies is cheaper than from coal, gas or nuclear power plants
- The green electricity price fluctuates less
- Green electricity does not harm the climate, which prevents future external costs
Conclusion
There's not much we can do about the current situation, but it's worth looking out for energy products with the Green Electricity and Green Gas labels in the long term. Because genuine green electricity with added value not only stabilizes energy prices in the long term, but each kWh of electricity consumed is also invested in the energy transition.
