Bundeskartellamt puts electricity metering prices to the test - test cases against Wemag and RWE Net -

The Bundeskartellamt has initiated proceedings against the regional electricity supplier Wemag AG, Schwerin (Vattenfall group) and RWE Net AG, Dortmund, on suspicion of excessive metering and billing prices charged to load profiled customers (households, commerce, agriculture).

Wemag’s and RWE Net’s prices (44.48 and 36.00 €/year, respectively, for consumers with single tariff meters and 79.76 and 72.00 €/year, respectively, for consumers with dual tariff meters) far exceed those charged by the electricity companies that were taken as a comparison (Stadtwerke Tübingen, Energiewerke Zeulenroda, TEAG, e.dis), i.e. by 40-80 per cent in the case of single tariff meters and approx. 95-115 per cent in the case of dual tariff meters. The regional structure (urban, rural) is not relevant to setting a level for metering prices. According to the Bundeskartellamt’s preliminary opinion, Wemag and RWE Net are therefore to be prohibited from charging higher metering and billing prices than the comparative companies.

The President of the Bundeskartellamt, Ulf Böge, stated: “With these test cases against Wemag and RWE Net we wish to considerably reduce the level of metering prices. Network-independent electricity suppliers and household customers in particular can profit from this since in this customer group the share of metering and billing costs accounts for up to 20 per cent of the electricity rate.

Metering and billing prices constitute a cost item which, as also stated in the Associations’ Agreement on electricity II plus, is to be separated from the remaining components of the network use fees, which are the subject-matter of other pending competition proceedings.