2023-06-26 16:17:37
26 Jun 2023 at 12:59 Update: 3 hours ago
About half of the Dutch still pay more than the price ceiling for electricity and gas. That number is a lot smaller than at the beginning of the year, when it was still more than 70 percent above it.
Especially for gas, many users (59 percent) pay more than the ceiling price. With electricity, that is 49 percent. Minister of Climate and Energy Rob Jetten reports this in a letter to the House of Representatives.
The price cap was introduced to help consumers and businesses pay their energy bills. It rose sharply last year due to the rapidly rising gas price. Those who have contract rates above 1.45 euros per cubic meter of gas and 0.40 euros per kilowatt hour of electricity will receive part of their bill from the government. This allowance is paid through the energy supplier.
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Those suppliers received a total of 3.45 billion euros from the government in the first six months of this year. The largest part (2.6 billion) was paid out in the first three months.
Energy rates have dropped significantly in recent months. As a result, only EUR 179 million was paid out in June, compared to EUR 927 million in January. In July, that amount will probably be even lower.
Energy suppliers have been offering rates below the price ceiling for several months now. Recently, there are even permanent contracts with rates below the ceiling, also for a term of, for example, three years.
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