Who is the discount intended for?
The discount applies to almost all households: people who have a so-called small-scale electricity connection on 1 November can count on 190 euros. Fixed or variable energy contract does not matter, any more than the amount of your energy bill and your income. People with an energy bill lower than 190 euros receive money. Anyone who also has such a contract on 1 December will receive a further discount of 190 euros.
Office buildings and cafes with a small consumption connection are also entitled to the discount. However, households that have a large-scale consumption connection together with other households, for example, will not receive any compensation. Some student houses are also excluded. The government is looking for a solution for this group of households.
The exact connection you have is shown on your meter or energy bill. The discount ends on 1 January anyway. Then the price ceiling for gas and electricity comes into effect.
Who pays out the money?
That’s what the energy companies do. They have been appointed by the government to carry out this compensation measure. Anyone who purchases gas and electricity from different companies will therefore only receive the allowance through the electricity supplier.
Energy companies inform the government how many customers they have on 1 November and 1 December. About three weeks later, the government transfers the compensation to the companies. Then the customers must receive the money within thirty days.
How does the money get to the consumer?
This differs per energy company. According to comparison site Independer, the Netherlands currently has more than thirty different suppliers. They can either transfer the 190 euros directly to their customers, or deduct them from their advance or final bill, or settle them with open accounts.
These various options are reflected in the largest energy suppliers in the Netherlands. Essent and Greenchoice settle the money with the installment amount of their customers. Eneco and Vattenfall simply transfer the amount to their customers’ accounts.
Some small providers have yet to decide how and when to give their customers the discount. November comes too early for energy supplier HEM: customers will therefore receive 380 euros in one go in December.
When will the money be paid out?
This also differs per energy supplier. If the discount is settled in the monthly advance, this is done on the usual date of the debit. Energy companies that transfer the amount to their customers generally do so in the second half of the month: Eneco refers to it as ‘between mid and late November’, Vattenfall pays out ‘before 26 November’.