An average family living in Flanders that started an annual contract for electricity and natural gas in May will pay up to €500 less on an annual basis, however, the cost of energy components remains higher than at the start of the year.
While the price of a new annual contract for electricity was still at a record high in April — the average annual bill for electricity for a household consuming 3,500 kWh was €1,756 — those concluding a new contract in May were facing a cost of around €1,653.72 for the same consumption rate, according to figures from Flemish energy regulator VREG.
However, compared to the beginning of this year, the energy component itself is still more expensive (more than €1,000 compared to around €950 in January and February).
This decrease in the cost of the overall bill is mainly due to the cheaper energy component introduced by the government, plus the VAT reduction which has been in place since 1 March.
Natural gas bills dropped
A bigger difference can be seen in the decrease in the cost of a natural gas contract between April and May. Two months ago, someone with a consumption of 17,000 kWh was looking at paying €2,706.44 on an annual basis.
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By last month, the price had dropped to €2,268.12 for the same consumption. This is mainly due to the reduction of VAT on natural gas from 21% to 6%, which came into force in April and is expected to remain in place during the winter. In May, a lower energy component was also added, further bringing down the cost for households.
Only people who signed a new contract in May or are on a variable contract will see a decrease in prices, while those on fixed contracts concluded earlier in the year and those already benefitting from the social tariffs will not see a difference.
