Electricity network costs are exploding: consumers now pay significantly more!

Electricity network costs are exploding: consumers now pay significantly more!

The costs of the electricity grid in Germany have increased by more than 100 percent since 2015. According to the Federal Network Agency, electricity network operators needed around 33 billion euros this year, compared to 15.9 billion euros in 2015. This enormous increase in network fees is primarily caused by the energy transition and the growing share of renewable energies in electricity generation. The burden falls primarily on consumers, i.e. households and companies.

In 2015, an average household customer paid a network fee of 6.59 cents per kilowatt hour; in 2024 it will already be 11.62 cents. These worrying figures were provided by the Federal Network Agency at the request of the BSW. Sahra Wagenknecht, the party leader, expressed sharp criticism of the increased network costs, describing them as “unacceptable” and a “failure of energy policy”. She calls for an abolition of network fees for consumers and for the electricity networks to be taken over by the public sector.

Regional differences and compensation

The north and northeast of Germany are particularly badly affected due to the expansion of wind energy. Here, the high need for expansion of the electricity network leads to considerable additional costs for electricity customers. From 2025, however, there is the prospect of partial relief through a regulation from the Federal Network Agency, which provides for partial compensation for these high network costs. This is intended to make the burden distribution more fair.

Around a third of the household price for electricity consists of network fees, which are in turn divided into transmission and distribution network fees. The transmission network fees have been uniform nationwide since 2023, whereas the distribution network fees vary greatly. A billing amount of 2.4 billion euros is expected for 2025, and household customers outside of relieved distribution network areas must expect a price increase of around 1.2 cents per kWh, which corresponds to additional annual costs of around 42 euros.

Suggestions for reforms

However, in relieved distribution network areas, average households can benefit from a reduction of around 200 euros per year for the same consumption. Recommendations for a more comprehensive network fee reform to better distribute electricity network costs are increasing. The Öko-Institut is proposing uniform nationwide network fees in order to eliminate regional differences and defuse political discussions. Studies also show that the legal feasibility of nationwide network fees has been confirmed.

One reform proposal envisages transformation-linked network fees that are tied to the respective region's contribution to the energy transition. In regions with a high level of development of renewable energies, lower distribution network fees could be levied, while the opposite measures would be necessary in regions with a lower level of development. However, the implementation of this model is legally complex and challenging. An explicit derivation of the transformation contribution of a network area is required in order to achieve a sustainable and fair solution and to reduce political pressure.

[T-Online] reports that these challenges are considered urgent against the background of the energy transition and the goal of decarbonization. At the same time, the high dependency of consumption costs on network fees requires an adjustment to the structural conditions in the German electricity market.

[Federal Environment Agency] emphasizes that the challenge is not only financial, but also in the technical implementation of the necessary infrastructure and the necessary legislation. Dialogue between different stakeholders is seen as crucial to progress in this area.