In July, the price for a new gas contract was 28.3 cents per kilowatt hour, according to data from the Household Energy Price Index (HEPI). It compares energy prices in 33 European countries on a monthly basis.
That equates to 2.76 euros per cubic meter.
Huge differences
And that’s more than anywhere else in Europe. The differences can rightly be called enormous. In the Netherlands we pay almost 11 times as much as in Hungary, the country where gas is cheapest.
The fact that gas in Hungary is cheap doesn’t say much. The country still has fairly close ties with Russia and still gets its gas cheaply from Gazprom.
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But gas is also much cheaper in Germany (17.23 cents per kWh), Belgium (13.71 cents), France (11.35 cents) and Spain (16.58 cents).
Extremely flexible market
One of the reasons that costs have skyrocketed in the Netherlands is that gas suppliers have completely stopped offering longer-term contracts, HEPI writes.
As a result, people can only opt for variable rates that move more or less directly with the gas price on the stock exchange. This is quite unique in Europe and ensures that higher costs in the wholesale market are passed on to customers faster than in other countries.
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No protection
But there is more. For example, unlike many other countries, the Netherlands has erected few protective barriers for consumers. The government has set a maximum rate in countries such as Greece, Spain and France, explains Koen Kuijper, energy expert at Energie Compare.nl. In other countries, energy companies are subsidized to keep prices low.
We are not familiar with such price ceilings in the Netherlands, and households notice that every day.
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No alternatives
An extra problem for the Netherlands: we need a relatively large amount of gas. A large part of the electricity is generated here via – yes – gas plants. In other countries around us, a lot of electricity is generated via nuclear power stations, hydropower or coal-fired power stations.
As a result, a shortage in the Netherlands is quickly more acute than elsewhere, resulting in higher prices.
In the video below, Carien ten Have explains how the drought is exacerbating the energy crisis:
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Moreover, the taxes here are relatively high, says Kuijper. For example, we have the energy tax, the surcharge for sustainable energy and the VAT. At current gas prices, these levies together account for about 30 percent of the total price, according to energy supplier Essent.
This combination of factors ensures that you pay a lot more for your gas than your fellow Europeans.
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