This is confirmed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy after questions from RTL Nieuws.
Divided into two periods
This is the result of a complicated calculation method the ministry devised to ensure the price cap is being implemented in the right direction.
Indeed, the maximum price appears to be divided into two periods. One before the annual return and one after. These periods are different for everyone, because you usually receive your annual declaration on the day of the year on which you concluded the contract.
The 1,200 cubic meters of gas included in the tariff ceiling are distributed daily over the entire year according to a calculation model that takes into account the fact that households consume more in winter than in summer.
And this is important. Because in your annual declaration, the energy supplier can only charge the reduced rate for the number of cubic meters or kilowatt-hours (kWh) that you were allowed to use up to that day according to the model. What you haven’t used, you lose. What you used the most, you pay at your contract price.
Under the ceiling, but pay full price
An example can make this clearer. Let’s say you receive your annual return on April 28. In the period from 1 January to 27 April it is possible to purchase a maximum of 647 cubic meters of gas and 1074 kWh of electricity below the tariff ceiling.
A family that consumed 800 cubic meters of gas and 1,300 kilowatt hours of electricity in that period will then have to pay for 153 cubic meters and 226 kWh at the very expensive market rates. So even if they are still under the consumption limits for a full year at that point, they already have to pay part of their consumption for prices above the ceiling.
For the rest of the year, 1826 kilowatt hours remain below the maximum price and 553 cubic meters of gas. If that same family decides from then on to be more thrifty and ends up with an annual consumption of exactly 1200 cubic meters and 2900 kilowatt hours, then they have still paid a part (153 cubic meters and 226 kilowatt hours) at the high rate. Throughout the year they do not receive 1200 m3 of subsidized gas, but only 1047. And only 2674 kilowatt hours of electricity are included in the ceiling instead of the promised 2900.
In the video below we explain how the price cap works:
And vice versa it works exactly the same way. A household that in the period prior to the annual bill was cheaper than predicted by the calculation model may not carry over the unused cubic meters to the rest of the year. For example, this household consumed only 400 cubic meters in the period up to and including April 27th. At that point, 247 cubic meters of gas will expire below the maximum price.
Frugal spring penalized
If this household starts to burn a little more during the year and eventually consumes exactly 1200 cubic meters for all of 2023, it will still have to tap the 247 cubic meters that were not used before the annual bill hits the rate of market. Despite the fact that once again the annual consumption does not exceed the limit communicated for months.
When will you be subsidized for the maximum number of cubic meters and kilowatt hours that has been promised? Only if you consume more than the calculation model prescribes, both before and after your annual return, or if you are exactly average.
According to the Ministry of Economy, the breakdown of the year in the final invoice is necessary for accounting reasons.
