Price increase at VERBUND - What happened?
Sharply higher procurement costs also require an increase in the electricity tariffs for the VERBUND sales company.
The price increase is the consequence of many factors. The price of electricity depends on factors such as the price of gas and is determined on the basis of a specific European method, subject to regulations, and finally on competition and anti-trust law. The electricity price cannot be independently altered by VERBUND or any other electricity producers or traders.
How is the price of electricity arrived at and why is it also climbing at VERBUND – despite the energy coming from renewables?
The price of electricity is determined on the open market and depends on supply and demand. This means that rising demand also results in higher electricity prices. The current energy crisis, triggered by events such as the invasion of Ukraine, has unleashed precisely this development.If the entire demand cannot be covered with low-cost renewable sources, such as by VERBUND (our electricity comes 100% from Austrian hydropower, wind power and solar power), then fossil-fuel powered power plants have to be called upon to cover demand. These more expensive power plants determine the price of electricity from this point onwards (merit order principle). In Austria, these are mainly gas power plants. VERBUND, like other energy providers, cannot change this procedure, as the merit order principle is specified by the European energy market. This method is intended to guarantee a fair price for electricity under uniform terms and conditions.
Immediate aid for hardship cases
We created the VERBUND hardship fund to provide our customers with rapid and non-bureaucratic assistance. People who are particularly heavily affected by the energy price rises are supported. The VERBUND hardship fund provides support by reducing a person’s obligation to make payment of their VERBUND energy bill.
Relief with energy costs
A raft of relief measures has been compiled. The support measures available extend from the government’s electricity price cap, province-specific assistance to the VERBUND Electricity Relief Fund in collaboration with Caritas. We have compiled an overview for you here.
What must we do now more than ever? Lead the energy transition.
We must do everything to free ourselves from energy and price dependencies that are harmful to the climate. In particular, we must counteract the faltering expansion of renewable energy in Austria triggered by slow approval procedures and legal uncertainty. That is why VERBUND is investing more than 3 billion euros in Austria and Europe over the next two years. Only through this decisive expansion of renewable energies, and the accompanying advancement of the energy transition, will Austria become more independent of fossil imports, which will have a stabilising and lowering impact on electricity prices.
