That too: almost a third of households will see energy bills (slightly) rise due to capacity tariff | Inland

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In 2020, the VREG announced the introduction of the capacity tariff for electricity. The distribution network tariffs are then no longer fully calculated on the basis of the purchased amount of electricity, but on the basis of peak consumption, making it more interesting to spread electricity consumption.

The new rate would come into effect in January 2022, but has already been postponed until July 1 at the request of grid operator Fluvius and Flemish Energy Minister Zuhal Demir.

At Demir’s request, Ghent University calculated what consequences the new capacity tariff would have on households. Although the results depend very much on a whole range of factors, that study shows that a number of households would see their bill increase by an amount between 20 and 100 euros on an annual basis.

The small consumers are certainly the victims of the capacity tariff. This primarily concerns households that consume less than 900 kWh of electricity per year. Secondary residents usually fall into this category, but also about 150,000 households with solar panels and the common areas in apartments, of which the bill ends up with the individual residents. Depending on the type of meter – classic or digital – they see their bill increase by 50 to 100 euros on an annual basis.

In addition, slightly less small customers, with an annual consumption of between 900 and 2,350 kWh per year, also lose at the capacity rate. This concerns 447,000 customers, 93,000 of whom have solar panels, for whom the bill increases by 20 to 50 euros if they have a classic meter. For the connections with a digital meter, the invoice will in the best case remain the same.

Very small and small consumers together account for more than 27 percent of all households, for whom the capacity tariff therefore means an increase in the bill in every situation.

The majority of households – almost 60 percent – have a slightly higher average consumption, between 2,350 and 5,500 kWh. The study shows that there are both winners and losers in this group of more than 1.6 million households, although the larger consumers can more easily compensate for the capacity tariff because the cost per unit of electricity consumed falls.

In the case of a digital meter, a lot depends on the average monthly peak in relation to the annual consumption, so it pays to consciously spread the energy consumption. More than one million digital meters have currently been installed in Flanders, on a total of 2.8 million households.

According to the study, it is mainly the large customers who benefit from the capacity tariff. This concerns 160,000 households with a consumption of more than 5,500 kWh that will save on average more than 100 euros on the annual bill, with both a traditional and a digital meter. In that sense, the capacity tariff could also make large-scale consumers such as electric cars, heat pumps and electric heating cheaper, although there too the condition is that consumption is spread out.

The bill would fall slightly for customers on an exclusive nightly rate, accounting for 5.6 percent of households, although that may not apply to people with accumulative heating, which causes high peaks in consumption.

For households with solar panels and a reverse counter, everything depends on the size of the installation. For smaller installations below 4 kVA the annual bill will increase, for larger installations from 6 kVA the capacity rate will decrease. According to Ghent University, solar panels will remain an interesting investment in any case, even after the introduction of the capacity tariff, because solar panels make it easier to spread consumption and limit the monthly peak.

Demir reacts concerned and seems to be aiming for another postponement. “During an energy crisis, it is not easy to revise a tariff system, as the VREG wants. (…) With the current energy prices and the difficult situation in which families find themselves, we cannot be too careful. This study shows that my concerns are not be unjust.”

However, it is the Flemish Parliament that supervises the Flemish energy regulator VREG, which introduces the capacity tariff. Demir calls on the members of the Energy Commission in the Flemish Parliament “to carefully study the consequences of the decisions of the VREG on households and to consult with the VREG about the capacity tariff”. “As far as I’m concerned, there are no taboos,” it sounds.

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