Electricity prices for households and the industry
For consumers, this supply shortage has been most notable when examining electricity prices for households. Although an upward trend had been observed for years, there was a notable jump in the average end-user price for the second half of 2021. Germany regularly records the highest household electricity prices in the bloc. In 2021, German residents using between 1,000 and 2,500 kilowatt hours per year paid around 35-euro cents per kilowatt-hour. Elevated household electricity prices in countries such as Germany and Denmark are often associated with high taxes. Energy taxes and VAT used to make up more than 50 percent of the end-user electricity prices in cities such as Berlin and Copenhagen. However, as of August 2022, raw material costs had risen to such a degree that they accounted for the majority of end-user prices.Industrial customers typically pay less for electricity than residential users, as electricity can be transported at higher voltages, thus reducing transmission costs. Further, for large industrial consumers, prices are often negotiated at wholesale, rather than retail markets. In 2021, Sweden had some of the lowest electricity prices for industries in the EU.
