The nationwide gas price comparison published by the Federal Cartel Office on 3 January has met with great interest from the media and gas customers. However, many Giessen gas customers are surprised because the prices of their gas supplier, Stadtwerke Giessen AG (SWG), are not listed in this price comparison.
That's why SWG did the maths for its customers. In the price comparison, which reflects the net prices as of 15 November 2006, SWG would occupy the following places:
- For an annual gas consumption of 7,000 kilowatt hours (kWh), SWG customers paid EUR 441.14 net. This puts SWG in 84th place out of 608 suppliers, with 1st place being the cheapest supplier.
- The price for an annual gas consumption of 20,000 kWh was EUR 1,126.24 net as of 15 November 2006. This puts SWG in 222nd place out of 711 suppliers in the price comparison.
- With a net price of EUR 1,864.24 for an annual gas consumption of 35,000 kWh, SWG would be ranked 197th out of 711 suppliers.
SWG press officer Ina Weller: "We are pleased that our prices place us in the most favourable third of suppliers. However, such price comparisons are not very meaningful on a cut-off date. For one thing, such a price comparison says nothing about how long the supplier in question has been offering this price or when the next price change is due. Secondly, it must of course be taken into account that this is a price comparison as of 15 November 2006. It is therefore no longer up to date, because in the meantime there was another price increase at one or other supplier on 1 December 2006 and then of course major changes due to the increase in VAT on 1 January 2007. We reduced the net prices for gas on this date, for example."