The new Energy Industry Act has been in force since July of this year. One of the new features of this law is the electricity labelling obligation for energy supply companies such as Stadtwerke Gießen AG (SWG). The obligation to provide information on electricity generation sources is based on an EU directive, which has thus been transposed into national law.
Electricity sources and environmental influences
In future, SWG will provide its customers with information on the percentage composition of the electricity mix on the back of the bill. A distinction is made between nuclear power, fossil fuels, other energy sources and renewable energies as sources of electricity generation. This composition is used to calculate the environmental impact caused by the purchase of electricity from SWG. The average values for Germany are given for comparison. In accordance with the law, the values always refer to the electricity mix that the companies purchased in the previous year. The reason for this is that the recalculation of a year's electricity label will always take place on 15 December in future and not all data for the current year can be available at this time.
SWG deviates positively from the national average
The composition of SWG's electricity mix deviates favourably from the national average: below-average consumption of electricity from fossil fuels and above-average consumption from renewable energy sources. Particularly noteworthy is the environmentally friendly in-house generation in modern combined heat and power plants in the Giessen region. It accounts for 14% of total annual electricity procurement in 2004.
Grid utilisation fees
Another innovation is the disclosure of prices for the utilisation of SWG's electricity grid. In future, this component of the electricity prices will be published separately on the front of the bill. These are not additional costs, but costs that have already been included in the prices in the past.
Information for everyone
Customers who have questions about their electricity bills can call the SWG hotline on 0180 22 11 100 from Monday to Friday for information. The energy consultants are available for personal consultations from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the infoCentre on Marktplatz.