Electricity bill vs total electricity costs
What is the difference between talking about electricity bills and total electricity costs? The electricity company invoices you for the electricity you use at home, while the electricity network company invoices you for the transmission of electricity. It is good to remember that these together make up your total electricity costs. In other words, the electricity company's electricity bill only forms one part of your total electricity costs.
Your total electricity costs consist of these parts
- Electricity price
- Transmission costs
- Energy tax
Who charges what?
The electricity company's electricity bill contains
- Electricity price/kWh
- Possible value-added services, such as fossil-free energy source, quarterly billing or right to exchange
- VAT
- Possible monthly fee (basic fee)
The electricity network company's invoice usually contains
- Transmission price / Price for transfer
- Basic fee (or equivalent subscription fee)
- Energy tax
- Possible additional services such as disconnection and feedback fees
- VAT
Electricity price
The price for the electricity you use, is stated in cents per kilowatt hour, c / kWh. How much you pay for your electricity depends on what kind of electricity contract you have. You can buy your electricity at a fixed or variable kWh price.
Usually you also pay a monthly basic fee for your electricity contract. The basic fee varies according to the electricity company but is usually a few euros up to five euros.
You can choose the electricity company yourself and subject your electricity contract to competition to get cheaper electricity. How much you pay for your electricity each month depends on both your electricity price and your own consumption. Logically meaning that the more you use, the larger the electricity bill. If you want to reduce your electricity bill, think about how you can save energy or reduce your consumption.
Transmission price
Electricity is transferred from power plants (production facilities) to you via the electricity grid. This is called electricity transmission.
The transmission of electricity is always the responsibility of the local network company, which is determined by where you live. It is simply put: the network company owns the cables that transmit or lead the electricity to your home. You can only change network companies by moving to another area with another network company. A network company can’t be subjected to competition.
The network company determines the price of electricity transmission in its area. The transfer price consists of a kilowatt-hour price and a monthly fee. See a more detailed price list on your network company's website.
The transmission price is often a hot topic. The transmission fee is used to cover not only electricity transmission, but also for monitoring, maintaining and repairing the power lines and renewing them when and where needed so that there will be no interruption in the power transmission. The network company also e.g. fixes damage and clears up debris on and around the power lines after a storm. In addition, the network company also measures your energy consumption, and provides metering data to electricity companies, i.e. your electricity supplier.
Note! You also pay for the transmission according to kilowatt hours used. If you want a lower transmission cost, it is worth trying to reduce your electricity consumption.
Taxes
The electricity company's electricity bill also includes statutory taxes. You pay 24% VAT on electricity. In general, VAT is included in the electricity price quoted by the electricity seller.
VAT is also paid on electricity transmission. In addition to VAT, the network company also invoices the energy tax, which consists of excise tax and a fee to the National Emergency Supply Agency.
What else affects my total electricity cost?
In addition to the electricity price and a monthly fee, transmission fees and energy tax, your total electricity costs will be affected by any additional services. Additional services include e.g. the right to exchange, quarterly billing and fossil-free energy source, such as EKOenergy.
If you have low consumption, it is worth checking if you can find an electricity contract without a monthly fee or with a lower monthly fee, because this can quickly make up a large proportion of your electricity bill.
Why do I get two electricity bills?
The electricity supplier bills you for your electricity consumption on its own invoice, while the network company in turn bills you for the electricity transmission on its own bill. If you buy your electricity from the same company that transfers the electricity, you usually only get one invoice covering these costs.
Do you have questions about the electricity bill and invoicing? Check out our page Electricity bill and payment and our Frequently Asked Questions.
How can I affect my own electricity bill?
1) Choose an electricity plan that best suits your home and life situation
Although e.g. electricity at market price (a variable rate) is not always the best choice for a house with electric heating, it can be a good alternative if you have the opportunity to steer and optimize your electricity consumption to the cheaper hours. Börsel is also suitable for lower consumption and in smaller apartments. With less consumption, the fluctuations in the electricity market do not usually be so great in the electricity bill.
2) Reduce your energy use and save energy
Use less electricity, and you will get both a smaller electricity bill and a transmission bill.