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Electricity and gas: Austria's households pay too much - this is how you save now!
Many Austrians pay too much for electricity and gas. A change of provider could bring savings of over 1,000 euros.
Electricity and gas: Austria's households pay too much - this is how you save now!
More and more Austrians are not aware of how much they pay for electricity and gas and thus risk high costs. According to information from 5min.at, many households pay too much without realizing it. The savings potential when changing providers are remarkable and can be up to 1,000 euros. In 2024, prices on the energy market took a positive turn. There were increasingly cheaper tariffs and more providers, although the level of competition has not yet reached the pre -crisis level. Wolfgang Urbantschitsch from E-Control found that over 50% of the respondents never changed their suppliers-specifically 52% in electricity and 54% in gas.
The numbers show that over 20% of consumers have changed several times, which, however, does not lead to most of them save optimally. A missed change of provider can cost many Austrians hundreds of euros. In the first year of a change, a saving of up to 450 euros for electricity and over 1,000 euros for gas is not unusual. Despite the stabilization of prices at the wholesale market, where electricity cost around 10 cents per kWh and gas between 4 and 5 cents in 2024, there are many existing customers that are affected by long procurement contracts and the power of their suppliers.
change of provider and price controls
e-control has introduced a new price portal to help consumers check and compare their tariffs. Spot products could be even cheaper for flexible households and have enabled savings of up to 515 euros in recent years. In 2024, average prices were around 16 cents per kWh for electricity and almost 7 cents per kWh for gas. Nevertheless, consumers have to make sure that the prices for existing customers only drop slowly.
In addition, current figures show that 2023 was a record year for a change of provider. Around six million households decided to change their electricity provider, which corresponds to an increase of 50 percent compared to the previous year. In its annual monitoring report, the Bundeskartellamt and the Federal Network Agency pointed out that consumers should use their market power through changeover. This dynamic could also help to maintain positive developments at the price level.