“The gas tax in the Netherlands was already among the highest in Europe. The energy tax on gas will increase by another 19 percent in 2024. Households that have little to spend can no longer afford this,” Woldring warns.
The rates of many energy contracts will again be around the price ceiling level.
Director of Gaslicht.com, Ben Woldring
Gas will become 11 cents per cubic meter more expensive next year due to the higher energy tax. “As a result, the rates of many energy contracts will return to around the price ceiling level,” predicts the director of Gaslicht.com. Thanks to the price ceiling, consumers will pay a maximum of 1.45 euros per cubic meter of gas this year.
Current
The government will reduce the tax on electricity by 2 cents per kWh in 2024, with the aim of making electricity more attractive compared to gas. “But with a further rising energy bill, there is little money left for many households to invest. Sustainability measures, such as insulation, solar panels and a hybrid heat pump, can easily cost many thousands of euros,” says Woldring.
Also read: ACM expects higher energy bills in 2024
Government levies are also taking an increasingly larger bite out of the energy bill. In 2009, an average household spent 355 euros on energy taxes. According to Gaslicht.com, that amount has already risen to 826 euros this year and will rise to 916 euros next year.
Power grids
The 90 euros in higher energy taxes that Gaslicht.com foresees is in addition to the almost 100 euros more that households will pay in 2024 for the transport of gas and electricity to their home. Regulator ACM pointed out on Tuesday that grid operators are investing billions of euros in expanding and adapting their power grids due to the energy transformation. The bill for this ends up with households and the business community.
Earlier this month, the ACM called on consumers to check whether their energy contract is ‘winter-ready’. The regulator made this call because of the abolition of the price ceiling as of January 1, 2024. From then on, people will again pay the gas and electricity rates from their contract. Those prices could be lower next year, but they could also be significantly higher.
While the price ceiling will end, the Temporary Energy Emergency Fund will continue to exist next year. People who can no longer pay their energy bill will receive an average of approximately 150 euros per month after an approved application, so that they can still pay their bill. Woldring: “Vulnerable households desperately need this money.”
(The Telegraph)