More than half of the village houses in Drenthe expect a significant increase in energy prices due to the end of the netting scheme. This is what the National Association for Small Nuclei (LVKK) says based on its own research.
Thanks to the netting scheme, households and organizations can offset their self-generated electricity against their consumption. They do this by supplying excess electricity back to the power grid.
The netting scheme will stop from January 1, 2027, because the power grid is too full. Then you have to purchase electricity again from the energy supplier.
“In the winter months, most village halls are also open, often in the evening. When it gets colder, the village halls simply have to pay the full price,” says Paul van Schie of BOKD, the interest group for Drenthe villages and village halls. “So they will suffer significantly financially.”
Van Schie says that village houses made significant progress in the field of sustainability about ten years ago, by purchasing solar panels, among other things. “This actually allowed a large part to become self-sufficient in terms of energy.”
This will come to an end from next year, when the self-generated energy can no longer be used by the village houses themselves. According to Van Schie, the consequences can be considerable.
“It depends on how large a village house is, but some already have an energy burden of a few thousand per month. I think they will deteriorate considerably,” he says.
Van Schie continues: “More than half of the village and community centers expect that this will entail a significant increase in costs.”
“Village houses have already experienced several crises in recent years, such as corona and the energy crisis after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. People were already concerned then and that is no different now,” Van Schie explains.
But the majority of village halls have overcome these problems. “Some of the village houses can certainly tolerate this, but the money is of course intended for something else. Renovation or maintenance of the building, or tackling a kitchen. If you suddenly spend that budget on the energy bill, then you have a problem.”
But a solution to this problem is not easy to find. “There are discussions with ministries, but it is difficult to get money from The Hague,” says Van Schie.
According to him, other options would be to make money available for investments, such as battery packs. “And perhaps an exception should simply be made for places with such an important social function. Village houses, for example, are often emergency support points in crisis situations, so of course you shouldn’t kill the energy in such a facility.”
