vierter-monitoring-bericht-energie-der-zukunft-englische-kurzfassung

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9 Affordable energy and a level playing field
Where do we stand?
After years of rising energy prices, energy prices and costs
for many companies and households fell slightly. Falling
prices on the international oil and gas markets, and also
reforms like the revision of the Renewable Energy Sources
Act in 2014, are impacting on consumer prices: for the first
time in more than ten years, the electricity prices for
household customers fell at the beginning of 2015. For
industrial and commercial customers not covered by special
arrangements, electricity prices remained virtually constant
in 2014. On average, trading prices for electricity were
down 10% last year, and they have continued to fall in 2015.
The electricity prices for many commercial and industrial
customers in Germany were above the EU average in 2014.
For industrial customers, the level of relief from the reduction
in charges and surcharges depends chiefly on the ratio
of electricity costs to gross output and turnover.
The costs of providing primary energy dropped by
approx. 12% in year-on-year terms in 2014 to €112 billion.
The costs of imported energy stood at €81 billion. In 2013,
energy imports had cost €94 billion.