Almost two million households could save between €150 to €400 on their annual energy bills if they switched to cheaper contracts, according to a study from the Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation (CREG).
The energy regulator calculated that families could save up to €250 on gas bills and between €150 to €400 a year on electricity bills on average, as there remain "significant savings opportunities for many households."
Moreover, these savings can vary depending on the region, with Walloon and Flemish families able to save upwards of €400 on their electricity bills by changing contracts.
CREG lauded the merits of cheaper energy contracts which they claim are mostly unknown to consumers. "The fact that they do not know [about them] and cannot even find a way of comparing contract prices is a recurring problem."
Costly contracts
CREG's study showed that Belgian households usually choose the most expensive energy contracts. Half of Walloon consumers opted for the top ten most expensive electricity suppliers, while 49% of consumers in Brussels selected the five most expensive electricity contracts.
The energy regulator gave multiple reasons for the popularity of expensive contracts, most of which can be attributed to the dominance of a select few suppliers.
In the Belgian capital, for example, there are only three electricity and two gas suppliers. The number of providers has also fallen over the last few years by 29% and 39% in Flanders and Wallonia, respectively.
Two suppliers (Engie and Luminous) are leading the way in Belgium, ahead of all other providers. Their dominance meant that, when they stopped offering fixed-price contracts during last year's energy crisis, all other providers followed.
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Over three in five Belgians previously had fixed energy contracts before suppliers stopped offering them to protect them from volatile prices due to the war in Ukraine. The number of Belgians on fixed-price contracts has since fallen to a record low of 24%.
While Engie and Luminous have decided to once again offer fixed tariffs, their contracts are still far from being the cheapest in the country. Consumer rights organisation Test Achats revealed earlier this year that Belgian families on Optifix contracts would pay €808 a year for electricity and €1,318 for natural gas.
All these reasons and the perceived dominance of certain suppliers mean that Belgians are missing out on cheaper energy bills, with CREG encouraging consumers to switch to cheaper contracts.
The switch can be made with just a month's notice. Multiple websites compare contract prices, including CREG Scan as well as the BruSim comparator for consumers in the capital.
