RATINGEN (dpa-AFX) - As of October 1, two levies that make up part of the gas price for household customers will no longer apply to gas suppliers. Until now, 0.57 cents per kilowatt hour was due for the so-called control energy levy. For the so-called conversion levy, 0.038 cents per kilowatt hour was charged. Both will now be reduced to zero cents for an initial period of one year. For an annual consumption of 20,000 kilowatt hours, this amounts to a total of 121.60 euros.

Utilities must pass on such levies to THE, the company responsible for the German gas market area. The suppliers usually pass these costs on to their end customers.

However, it is still unclear what of the reduction at the suppliers will ultimately reach the consumers. "The suppliers do not have to pass on this change to the customers immediately, but only in the next price calculation," said a spokeswoman for the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).

The Federal Network Agency called the reduction good news for gas customers in Germany. "We expect that the relief will ultimately reach the consumer," Klaus Mueller, president of the agency, said in a statement Friday.

The control energy or balancing levy is charged for costs arising from the use of control energy, i.e. gas. It is used when the ratio between gas quantities fed in and gas quantities fed out is not balanced. The conversion levy is for costs incurred by THE in adjusting the natural gas energy content to specific supply areas.

The gas price is made up of several components. In the most recent gas price analysis by BDEW in July, 72 percent of the price was attributable to procurement and distribution, 13 percent to so-called network charges, and 15 percent to taxes and levies./tob/DP/zb