Just moved into your new Berlin apartment? One of the first things you need to do: Find an electricity provider. Here’s simple calculator to compare power suppliers in Germany.
To cut a long story short: Electricity is pretty expensive in Germany, in comparison to other countries. This is due to the Energy transition (German: Energiewende) policy be the German government: To address climate change, renewable power sources like wind and solar energy are subsidised, to make them more common and affordable in the long run.
In the short run though, Germans need to pay a tax on energy consumption, making it more expensive than before.
How to find a cheap power provider
To find a cheap electricity provider, simply use the calculator below. Only enter your post code (for Berlin, you take for example 10117), and your estimated consumption per year.
(Can’t see the form above? Click this link. *)
If you can’t decide on all these offers there: I’m for many years now a happy customer of Eprimo.
Average consumptions
If you don’t know what your consumption is, you can use these average numbers. The first column is for households where your water is heated by central heating (i.e. not with electricity), the second where electricity heats your weekly bathing party.
| Household size | no water heating | incl. water heating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | 1.600 kWh | 2.100 kWh |
| 2 people | 2.300 kWh | 3.400 kWh |
| 3 people | 3.100 kWh | 4.400 kWh |
| 4 people | 4.000 kWh | 5.500 kWh |
| 5 people | 4.500 kWh | 6.700 kWh |
However, I find these numbers too high. For instance me personally, I usually only consume 600 kWh per year. So keep that in mind if you find yourself too scared about the high payment estimations in the calculator’s result.
How you pay and how you are billed
When you then actually make a contract with a company, they will calculate a monthly rate for you, based on your estimated consumption that you give them. You will pay this monthly rate until your electricity meter will be read.
Then, they will take your actual consumption, take your paid rates and see if you used more than estimated or less. Based on this, you will need to make an additional payment or receive money back. And your future rate will be adjusted.
To not give the companies too much credit in advance, I prefer to give a lower estimation, and keep some extra money on my savings account. So I get some interest rate in the meantime, and I’m not worried about a possible additional payment.
Hope that helps, if I missed something feel free to ask in the comments!
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