A week ago, the German government announced the introduction of a surcharge on natural gas from October 1. Virtually cost sharing to support gas suppliers. By April 2024, 34 billion euros will be collected. However, the main part of the revenue will go to two commercial partners of Russia.

A gas tax for the benefit of suppliers under pressure due to the cessation of gas supplies from Russia has been enthusiastically received by them. Twelve companies have already filed claims totaling around 34 billion euros, the joint venture of gas network operators Trading Hub Europe (THE) said on its website on Monday.

They include troubled energy giant Uniper, EnBW subsidiary VNG in Leipzig, Oldenburg-based supplier EWE and Austria’s OMV. I have written in detail about Uniper, its liquidity problems and the help requested from the German state for Honews, here.

New SEFE and big money

According to Reuters and the dpa news agency, cited by Welt.de, more than 90% of the 34 billion euros to be collected from the gas tax until April 2024 will go to Uniper and the former Gazprom Germany.

According to insiders with whom the German publication got acquainted, only Uniper receives about two-thirds of the fee. Uniper head Klaus-Dieter Maubach was already talking about more than 50% last week.

About 25% is held by Gazprom Germany, now called SEFE, and its main contract partners Wingas and VNG.

Another major supplier, RWE, has already said it will waive the charge without claiming any financial loss: “As you know, we bear the loss ourselves.”

At the same time, the price of gas in Europe continued to rise, reaching even 18% more, up to 292.50 euros per megawatt hour. This was noted on the market by the announcement of the further termination of the supply of Russian gas to Europe via the Northern Stream-1 gas pipeline.

Briefly about the surcharge

The gas price premium is designed to protect the German gas market from collapse. Everyone who heats with gas in Germany has to pay much more money than a year ago.

Now gas heating is even more expensive, because the government has decided that consumers must also pay a surcharge for gas. This is aimed at supporting companies that buy gas for Germany.

Who is charged for gas and for what period? The gas tax is levied on all consumers who heat with gas: from October 1, they will have to pay 2.4 cents more per kilowatt hour, regardless of the supplier from whom they get their gas.

Therefore, customers of these companies also have to pay a premium for what they practically do not consume. The surcharge, which can also be adjusted, is applied approximately for two years.

How big is the gas bill? It is known that from August 15, 2022, the gas fee for German households will be 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour of gas. This value is roughly in the middle of previously estimated values. Calculation example: with an annual consumption of 16,000 kWh for a living space of 100 square meters, it will be 387 euros per year. VAT is added to this.

The decision of the German government

In its official statement, the German government explains:

“In the current situation, gas importers need support to offset the high costs of gas procurement. Otherwise, there is a risk of the collapse of those companies that are important for the functioning of the gas market and security of supply. As a result, the federal government has initiated a gas surcharge that is due to be introduced from October 1, 2022.

The Energy Security Act provides for the following balanced price adjustment: the additional costs incurred in the purchase of substitute gas can be shared among gas consumers through a tax. On August 4, the federal government adopted the necessary regulation on gas price adjustments. It entered into force on August 9.

Market manager Trading Hub Europe announced on August 15 that the fee will initially be 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour. The additional fee will be charged to all gas consumers and will expire on April 1, 2024. Bills will normally be issued by September 30, 2024. Additional fees will be billed monthly and may be adjusted every three months.

However, due to rising gas prices, the federal government wants to further ease the burden on citizens. Thus, VAT on gas consumption is reduced from 19 to 7 percent. This discount is valid until March 31, 2024.”