Germany’s largest energy supplier Eon expects electricity and gas prices for end customers to continue to rise. Price pressure prevails in all markets, said CFO Marc Spieker on Wednesday in Essen. “The only thing that differs is how quickly these price increases are then implemented.” There is no question that they would have to come in the end.
Eon supplies around 14 million private and business customers in Germany. These include around 1.5 million gas customers. In addition to energy sales, the operation of distribution networks is the other major pillar in the core business of the Essen-based Dax group.
Coal phase-out, climate change, sector coupling: The briefing for the energy and climate sector. For decision makers
Eon announced in March that it would raise prices, citing the sharp rise in wholesale prices for energy as the reason. “In Germany, most of these price increases have already been implemented or announced,” said Spieker. Eon CEO Leonhard Birnbaum named an average increase of 40 percent compared to the previous year as an example of a price increase in natural gas for North Rhine-Westphalia.
When there will be a next increase is speculation. This depends, for example, on the price development in wholesale, on demand and on the level of the gas levy planned by the federal government. In the case of electricity, the price increase for Eon customers in North Rhine-Westphalia was 17 percent, but this was compensated for by the elimination of the EEG surcharge on July 1st.
The increases in energy prices by suppliers in Germany that have become known so far vary greatly. For example, the gas price at the Cologne-based company Rheinenergie rose by almost 116 percent in October with an annual consumption of 15,000 kilowatt hours.
The Wuppertal Stadtwerke will also increase the gas price on October 1 by around 50 percent and the electricity price by around 33 percent. At Energieversorgung Oberhausen, the percentage increases for electricity and gas are almost the same and are between 24 and 34 percent.
“There is a larger wave of price increases,” said energy expert Udo Sieverding from the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center to the “Handelsblatt” (Wednesday). “Many municipal utilities will definitely follow suit.”
The comparison portal Check24 registered 124 increases in electricity prices by default suppliers in August, September and October alone. Around two million households are affected. “In September, the increases averaged 47.5 percent,” said a spokesman.
In all cases, the announced gas surcharge to save systemically important gas importers is not yet included in the new prices. The amount will be announced next Monday.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had mentioned a range of 1.5 to 5 cents per kilowatt hour. It is still unclear whether VAT will also be due on the surcharge.
At Eon, the significant increase in wholesale electricity prices in the first half of the year ensured high sales, but also put pressure on profits. The reason: the energy company was only able to pass on part of the increased procurement costs to customers. CEO Leonhard Birnbaum spoke of a “solid half-year result”.
By the end of June, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted Ebitda) fell by 15 percent to 4.1 billion euros, also because the same period last year was influenced by positive special effects. The network business once again made the largest contribution. The area of ​​nuclear power accounted for 390 million euros.
Eon still operates a nuclear power plant, in Lower Bavaria. The group confirmed its forecast for the year as a whole. In 2022, adjusted net income should reach between 2.3 and 2.5 billion euros.
Spieker expressed reservations about the continued operation of its Isar nuclear power plant beyond the end of the year, but indicated that he was willing to talk. The board of directors said that the decision of the federal government, which at the beginning of the Ukraine war clearly spoke out against extending the operating times of nuclear power plants in Germany, is respected.
