Stadtwerke Gießen is reducing its prices for natural gas as of 1 July. The company is thus passing on more favourable purchasing conditions to its customers.
The situation on the natural gas market has eased at least a little in recent months. As a result, prices on the Leipzig Energy Exchange (EEX) have fallen accordingly. This development naturally also has an impact on the end prices for natural gas customers. "With the upcoming price reduction, we are honouring a promise. By passing on better procurement conditions to our customers - as we have always done," explains Jens Schmidt, Commercial Director of Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG). In concrete terms, this means that SWG will reduce the prices for natural gas from 1 July 2023 - by almost 21 percent at the peak. An important detail: from this date, all SWG heating gas tariffs will be below the 12 cent mark, i.e. below the German government's price cap.
The prices in concrete terms
In the basic supply, heating gas customers will pay 3.06 cents less than before for a kilowatt hour (kWh) of natural gas from July. For a typical household in the basic supply with an annual consumption of 25,000 kWh, the labour price will be 11.04 cents per kWh in future. This would mean a saving of around 765 euros per year or 63.75 euros per month - a reduction of almost 21 per cent. In the ThermoFix tariff, the labour price will fall by around 2.1 cents to 10.83 cents per kWh.
"With this calculation, it is important to know that our customers have not been paying the full price for 80 per cent of their forecast annual consumption since January of this year thanks to the gas price brake. This is why the reduction in bills resulting from the price cut will actually be lower," says Jens Schmidt, explaining the complex interrelationships.
Irrespective of this, Andreas Fuchs, Head of Sales at SWG, sees the new prices as an important signal. After all, they have an important, positive effect in another area: "We are very pleased that our current calculations are below the price cap for natural gas. After all, we take our social responsibility very seriously and are therefore doing everything we can to ensure that the state no longer has to pay subsidies for our natural gas customers."
Innovation with ThermoFix
For the first time in a year and a half, SWG can once again offer gas products with a contract term of one year that are priced below the basic supply. "We are also allowing our existing customers on this tariff model to opt for a two-year term," adds Andreas Fuchs.
A look into the future
Nobody can reliably predict whether and for how long the current positive development on the natural gas market will continue. This is because, in addition to many other factors that are difficult to predict, the weather has a massive influence on national gas demand. And therefore on the price of gas. If French nuclear power plants do not operate at full capacity again this summer due to low river levels, Germany may have to export electricity to France again. Increased use of gas-fired power plants would probably be necessary to produce the necessary quantities. If this happens, the exchange prices for natural gas are likely to rise significantly. All experts agree on this. "Regardless of what ultimately happens, we stand by our word that we always calculate the best possible prices for our customers," says Jens Schmidt, emphasising the company's maxim.