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Network tariffs
Electricity and gas networks cost money
The operation, expansion and modernisation of electricity and gas networks entail costs for the network operators. In order to cover these costs, they impose Network tariffs. These are normally paid by the energy suppliers, which in turn include them as a fixed component of the electricity and gas price for final customers. In this way, final customers indirectly bear the costs of the networks through the energy price.
The regulatory authorities control the revenue caps of network operators, as electricity and gas networks are natural monopolies and the amount of the tariffs therefore cannot evolve from free competition. The revenue cap is the upper limit of revenue that a network operator is permitted to generate from Network tariffs. The revenue caps are set for five-year regulatory periods. They are determined by means of a base year corresponding to the financial year three years prior to the start of the regulatory period. The costs of network operation are calculated on the basis of the audited annual financial statements of this base year. These costs also include depreciations, returns on equity and taxes. The Bundesnetzagentur reviews these costs and uses incentive regulation instruments such an efficiency benchmarking of network operators to determine a revenue cap. The network operators calculate their Network tariffs annually on the basis of these officially determined revenue caps. To this end, they have to produce a forecast of the volume of transported energy to which the determined revenue cap is applied. If the forecast proves too high, the revenue shortage is made up in the following years via the regulatory account. If the forecast was too low, the amounts exceeding the revenue cap are deducted again in the following years via the regulatory account.
The Network tariffs for gas and electricity display similarities within the regulatory framework but differ in some important aspects in terms of their calculation, structure and influencing factors.
Electricity networks | Gas networks | |
Determining the network costs | The regulatory authority reviews the costs incurred by the network operator using the audited annual financial statements of the base year. As well as the costs of expansion and operation, these also include measures for system security and managing Network congestion. Electricity network operators with fewer than 30,000 customers undergo a simplified procedure. | The regulatory authority reviews the costs incurred by the network operator using the audited annual financial statements of the base year. These include costs for expanding and operating the network, in particular. Gas network operators with fewer than 15,000 customers undergo a simplified procedure. |
Calculating the revenue caps | A revenue cap is calculated from the network costs reviewed by the regulatory authority. This sets out the revenue a network operator is allowed to generate from Network tariffs during a regulatory period. The standard procedure includes a review of how efficiently a network operator works in comparison to other network operators. Any inefficiencies identified here must be removed in the course of the regulatory period. Small network operators in the simplified procedure receive an average efficiency score that they must fulfil. | |
Deriving the Network tariffs | The allowed revenue calculated is spread as far as possible in line with causation across the different network and transformation levels that a network operator operates. The network operators calculate unit and capacity prices for network use at all voltage levels on this basis. However, these are only charged to customers that consume electricity from the network. Those feeding in do not pay any Network tariffs. Operators of storage facilities enjoy far-reaching tariff exemptions. A unit price and, at the discretion of the network operator, a fixed standing charge is charged to customers at the low-voltage level with an annual Electricity consumption of up to 100,000 kWh. | The operators of gas transmission systems calculate a net capacity price at their network level. This is payable both by those that have booked entry capacity, ie the right to inject gas into the gas network, and those that have booked exit capacity. Gas distribution system operators calculate a capacity and unit price from their revenue cap that is payable only by gas consumers. Gas storage facilities are typically connected to the transmission systems but pay reduced Network tariffs. A unit price and, at the discretion of the network operator, a fixed standing charge is charged to customers with annual gas consumption below 1.5 GWh. |
The outlined legal framework relates to the provisions of the Incentive Regulation Ordinance (AregV) and the Electricity and Gas Network Tariff Ordinances (StromNEV, GasNEV) still in force today. These will expire at the end of 2027 and the end of 2028 respectively and be replaced by determinations of the Bundesnetzagentur. However, although the new legal framework will contain a large number of changes to the regulatory details, it will retain the basic principles.
For the determination of network costs and allowed revenue caps, these determinations have already been developed and finalised in the NEST process.
https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/EN/RulingChambers/GBK/Status_NEST_process_summer_25/start.html
For the setting of Network tariffs, the Bundesnetzagentur has commenced determination proceedings for electricity Network tariffs known as AgNes.
https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Beschlusskammern/GBK/Ebene1_Rahmen/AgNes/start.html
For the setting of gas Network tariffs, the SyGNE determination proceedings were opened in January 2026.
Network tariffs in Germany can vary by region. This is due to a number of factors. For example, the costs of network expansion differ from region to region, as do the ages of the infrastructure and therefore the costs entailed by depreciations. The load density, that is, the ratio of the required infrastructure to the number of its users, likewise varies from region to region. Population plays a role because the network costs are passed on to fewer final customers in sparsely populated regions.
A higher proportion of renewable energy generation installations in a region typically means higher network expansion costs for electricity networks if the networks have to be expanded especially for the intake and transport of energy fed in. This is based on the Bundesnetzagentur’s determination on distributing the additional costs incurred in networks as a result of the integration of renewable energy generating installations (BK8-24-001-A). The determination provides relief for regions with a particularly high burden of costs from renewable energy expansion from 2025 onwards. The costs incurred in reducing the burden on individual regions will be distributed across the country. As the costs for managing Network congestion are included in the revenue cap for electricity networks, insufficient network expansion also has consequences for Network tariffs.
The rise in average electricity net Network tariffs can partly be explained by the ongoing expansion of renewable energy and the associated network expansion required. This is imperative for the success of the energy transition, but also entails the construction of new lines and expansion of existing ones as the decentralised renewable energy installations are frequently installed at some distance from major electricity consumers. Increased ancillary service costs, such as for congestion management, also play a role. These costs are in turn due to insufficient network expansion as well as increased energy prices.
The rise in gas Network tariffs for all groups of customers in 2025 is attributable among other things to newly introduced depreciation regulations and the decline in gas consumption. The new regulation (“KANU 2.0”) allows network operators to bring forward depreciations if it is foreseeable that use of the gas networks will cease in 2045 or, in justified cases, even earlier. Provisions of gas network operators for later decommissioning costs will also be possible in future. While this is pushing up Network tariffs in the short term, in the long term it will lead to a more appropriate cost allocation by preventing the last remaining gas customers from having to pay exorbitantly high Network tariffs in the face of declining gas consumption.
The latest developments of Network tariffs for electricity and gas are shown in the Energy data compact section.