DÜSSELDORF (dpa-AFX) - When the lower wholesale prices for electricity and gas will reach households cannot be answered in a general way, according to consumer advocates. "Many providers have just increased prices and thus pass on the high procurement costs of the last year," said energy expert Christina Wallraf of the consumer center NRW on Tuesday.

With inventory tariffs and with the basic supply often still nothing is to be noticed from the lower stock exchange prices. "With new customer tariffs, on the other hand, one partly already feels the favorable prices." From the energy suppliers who had passed on high procurement costs to their customers early on in 2022, price reductions are expected in the coming months. "Provided that exchange prices do not rise again."

Wholesale prices have fallen significantly in recent weeks. For example, the average exchange electricity price in mid-December was at times 450 euros per megawatt hour. On Tuesday, it was around 150 euros. In the case of natural gas, the price of gas to be delivered in February was around 136 euros per megawatt hour in mid-December; on Monday, the price was 55 euros.

Wallraf advised consumers to change energy suppliers if a recent price increase exceeds the price level of other tariffs - "even if 80 percent of consumption is covered by the price brake." Consumers could again find financially acceptable tariffs on comparison portals. "This was not the case for a long time."

According to information from the comparison portal Check24 on Monday, the tariffs of alternative suppliers in January are now on average cheaper again than the basic supply. Consumers could currently save costs significantly on the electricity bill, it said. The comparison portal Verivox had spoken last Friday even of a "collapse" with the new customer prices. "At the same time the prices of the basic supply rise strongly and are in the meantime again on the average the most expensive in the market", had reported Verivox./tob/DP/mis