Change of electricity provider

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A change of electricity provider means the termination of an electricity supply contract and the conclusion of a new supply contract by a private or commercial customer. The change relates exclusively to the electricity provider and not to the distribution network operator . The grid connection contract is not affected if a private electricity provider changes; The customer pays the network charges for the transmission of electricity to the network operator through the new electricity provider.

General

Reasons for a change

Possible reasons for changing energy providers are, for example, better contractual conditions (e.g. price guarantees, price savings, notice periods, payment methods) or the desire to purchase electricity from another energy supplier. Many companies appear on the market with different subsidiaries that address different target groups. A change can also be associated with the desire to purchase other products (e.g. green electricity ) and thus promote the energy transition .

Change via price comparison portals

When comparing prices via price comparison portals , default settings can be selected by the customer according to which the comparison is made. Settings for the contract period, the term of notice and automatic contract extension, the duration of the price guarantee, etc. can be made. The selection of companies can also be limited to regional suppliers and / or suppliers of green electricity. Many providers lure customers with a new customer bonus and discounts on the annual invoice as well as other promotions (e.g. promotional gifts).

Due to the variety of setting options, the comparison portals offer profiles with selection specifications. Meanwhile, in addition to the profiles preset by comparison portals according to their own guidelines, those with setting options according to the specifications of the Stiftung Warentest are also offered.

However, the operators of the price comparison portals can also make presettings that have disadvantages for the customer. These include, above all, contracts with electricity package tariffs, tariffs with advance payment and hidden price increases in the following years. We therefore recommend checking the default settings and the basis for comparison (basic provider tariff or currently used tariff) and changing them if necessary.

Framework conditions at EU level

The European Parliament decided in 2009 that the EU third energy package . One goal is to ensure in the member states that electricity customers can switch providers within three weeks, receive all consumption data and that these rights are granted without discrimination in terms of costs, effort and duration.

Situation in Germany

Regulatory basics

In Germany, every customer can freely choose the electricity provider - regardless of whether they are moving or want to change an existing contract. The Federal Network Agency is the competent regulatory authority .

In Germany, the legal basis for switching to another electricity provider is created by the Energy Industry Act , the Low Voltage Connection Ordinance and the Basic Electricity Supply Ordinance . The legislator stipulates that the procedure for changing the provider must not exceed three weeks, "calculated from the time the new supplier registers for network use with the network operator" ( Section 20a ). However, other regulations also apply to contracts with major customers.

Change of electricity provider for household customers

Basically, a customer is supplied with electricity in the basic supply. The basic service tariff is often the most expensive tariff.

In addition to the basic supply from the basic supplier , the municipal utilities , the big four suppliers , low-cost electricity providers and other companies also offer supply contracts for electricity. Currently (as of November 21, 2018), 27.8% percent of households receive electricity from the basic supply. Another 41.2% of households have contracts with the universal provider, but have chosen a different tariff outside of the universal provider. 31.0% of customers have a contract with a supplier who is not the basic supplier. With a change, however, the contractual conditions also change. Notice periods or contract terms are often longer. In addition to a change at the end of the term of the contract, according to Section 41 (3) sentence 2 EnWG, customers can extraordinarily terminate the contract without observing a period of notice in the event of contractually not agreed changes to the contractual conditions (price increase) .

To change electricity provider in Germany, you need the number of your electricity meter and the annual consumption. If you are still in the basic utility tariff, the notice period is 14 days. In the event of a move, the change is possible up to six weeks retrospectively.

If customers switch electricity providers, the electricity meter does not have to be changed.

In the event of the electricity provider's insolvency, the customer automatically switches to the basic tariff of the basic supplier as part of the so-called replacement supply. Unfulfilled claims (e.g. in the case of payment in advance) from the originally concluded contract with the electricity provider can then only apply to the insolvency administrator of the insolvent provider. A loss of the money paid in advance is possible. The electricity providers Teldafax and Flexstrom filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and 2013. Many customers had signed contracts there against prepayment.

According to calculations by Stiftung Warentest (as of 2014), switching from basic supply to a reputable, cheaper electricity provider can save several hundred euros per household per year. In an average household in Essen with an annual consumption of 5500 kilowatt hours, 321 euros could be saved per year.

statistics

In Germany, the Federal Network Agency, together with the Federal Cartel Office, publishes a report with figures and assessments on changing electricity providers. The 2014 monitoring report states that of 3.84 million electricity consumers who switched electricity provider in 2013, 244,000 were industrial and commercial customers. The quantitative change rate among household customers was 9.6 percent. In the area of ​​industrial and commercial customers, the share was 12.1 percent.

In the household customer segment, a majority of 45 percent have a special contract with the local basic supplier, while 34 percent are still in the classic basic supply. A company other than the basic supplier supplies 21 percent of all private electricity consumers. Among commercial and industrial customers, 34 percent have a special contract with the basic supplier, all others (66 percent) have a contract with another supplier.

The quota of private consumers switching electricity providers has been falling since 2009. The switching rate among industrial and commercial customers has remained more or less constant since 2006.

Situation in Austria

In Austria, the willingness to switch electricity and gas providers did not increase until 2013. 1.9% of electricity customers changed electricity providers in 2013. In addition, there was movement when the Association for Consumer Information called for community shopping at the end of 2013. This promotion was completed in April, with around 260,000 customers participating. It is not known how many customers actually took up the offer.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Switching electricity providers can save hundreds of euros. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. November 12, 2013, accessed January 19, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Robin Wood Magazine, No. 144 / 1.2020. (PDF; 4.0 MB) Green electricity is not just green electricity. www.robinwood.de, January 22, 2020, accessed on February 22, 2020 (pages 16 to 17, including the Green Electricity Report 2020, pages I to XVI).
  3. ↑ See for example the comparison portals Check24.de and Verivox.de
  4. ↑ Online tariff calculator for electricity and gas . Notes on verbrauchzentrale.de, July 6, 2017
  5. ↑ Directive 2009/72 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54 / EC. (PDF)
  6. ↑ Criticism of the prices of basic services. Kölner Stadtanzeiger, September 2014
  7. ↑ Monitoring report 2018 of the Federal Network Agency, page 259
  8. ^ Consumer center NRW, change of energy supplier
  9. ↑ Change of gas and electricity provider. IHK Leipzig
  10. ↑ How to: Change electricity provider. Stiftung Warentest, 2013
  11. ↑ Federal Network Agency, contracts outside the universal service, paragraph: What happens if my supplier becomes insolvent?
  12. ↑ Federal Network Agency and Federal Cartel Office, Monitoring Report 2014
  13. ↑ Change of electricity provider: 2013 was a record year in the standard of February 9, 2014, accessed on October 1, 2014
  14. ↑ Favorable energy tariff through joint purchase of electricity and gas on Ö3 from September 26, 2013, accessed on October 1
  15. ↑ Stop energy costs from April 11, 2014, accessed on October 1, 2014