Due to rising grid management costs, energy prices and gas taxes, the energy bill for many households will still be high in 2035. Essent expects this based on its own study and a study that the energy supplier had carried out by research agency Berenschot. Moreover, Essent predicts that there will be major differences between energy bills.
This is due to the extent to which homes have been made more sustainable and the way in which houses are heated. Low-income households in particular may be affected by this, Essent expects, for example if they live in an old terraced house or rental house. “If making the home more sustainable is financially impossible and natural gas is still used, vulnerable households in particular will be confronted with a permanently high energy bill in the coming years,” the energy company says.
Berenschot investigated which factors will influence the energy bill until 2035. The results show, among other things, that the consumer price of gas and electricity is expected to remain above the level before the energy crisis. The fixed part of the energy bill, which includes, for example, grid management costs, will also become more expensive. Berenschot assumes a likely increase of between 5 and 15 percent.
Making it more sustainable
Households with a heat pump and solar panels, on the other hand, benefit relatively cheaply. They benefit from the lower tax on electricity, while households with a central heating boiler suffer from the higher tax on gas. According to Essent, households with only a central heating boiler have the highest energy bills.
According to Essent CEO Resi Becker, “tight choices must be made between the costs of the energy transition and an affordable energy bill.” She advocates, among other things, limiting the increase in gas taxes and grid management costs. “This also ensures that it continues to pay off to make the home more sustainable and that households have maximum control over reducing their energy bills.”