German retail power bills seen up 6 pct from January
Date: 18-Dec-01
Country: GERMANY
A three-people household's monthly bill would go up by an average two euros to 44 euros as from January, it said in a press release.
The share of state taxes and fees would then account for 18 euros, or 41 percent, of the total.
"While the cost of power alone - generation, transport and distribution - has dropped by a third since 1998/99 (power market liberalisation), state charges as part of the power bills increased by nearly 50 percent since then," VDEW said.
The savings derived from more competition had been nearly eroded, VDEW said, adding gas and coal prices had also been on the increase since the middle of 2000.
The main additional price component from January is the so-called eco-tax on fuel use, where the fourth annual increase will boost the tax payable per kilowatt hour of power usage by 17 percent to 1.79 euros.
Other extra charges will be made for the renewable energy law (EEG law) and that to subsidise power and heat cogeneration (KWK-law) - all three will also be subject to value-added tax.
A small charge that can be levied to end consumers by cities or boroughs for use of their land for power transmission (Konzessionsabgabe) will remain broadly unchanged from January, and some local governments have decided to waive this item, VDEW said.