Energy companies are charging hundreds of euros more to people with solar panels using the net-metering scheme. However, aren’t these charges far too high to cover this? This is what the regulator ACM is going to investigate.
Meanwhile, energy companies are charging hefty extra costs to customers with solar panels, according to a calculation carried out by Keuze.nl on behalf of the newspaper. These feed-in costs are charged by more and more energy companies. With the extension of the net-metering scheme, more and more companies will also start charging these costs to customers with solar panels. This is because the net-metering scheme costs power companies handsomely. This is because the surplus power in summer is cheaper than the relatively scarce power in winter.
‘Vandebron charges over 125 euros more for 2450kWh of electricity to be netted than the electricity actually costs’
Comparison site Keuze.nl calculated what it costs energy companies to balance. An average Dutch family with solar panels generating 3500kWh consumes about 30% of that immediately itself. The other 70% goes into the electricity grid. That 70% produced in ze summer is not worth much money and sometimes even has a negative value. To supply energy to customers during winter, at the more expensive times, the power company loses an average of 126.40 euros per year. This is significantly less than the feed-in charge. Companies using other methods to recover extra costs from customers with solar panels sometimes end up considerably higher. Energy company Mega, for instance, does not give a loyalty premium of 388 euros and ‘earns’ 261 euros from the balancing customer. Coolblue uses a combination of a higher standing charge and a lower cashback, leaving honour at the bottom of the line of 128 euros after buying energy. Yet energy companies deny they earn from it. Regulator ACM cannot prohibit charging feed-in fees.
Source: De Gelderlander