Up to 32.1 percent!

Grid costs for electricity and gas to rise significantly in 2025

The energy bills of domestic households will increase by several hundred euros next year, depending on the grid area and consumption.

(Bild: Bernd Heinzelmann)

Grid costs for electricity and gas will rise significantly from January 1. They are expected to increase by an average of 23.1 percent for households in the case of electricity and 16.6 percent for gas. This is according to the draft regulations of the regulatory authority E-Control.

The so-called grid costs are set by E-Control and the values are usually published in December for the following year. Taxes are also rising, which could make energy several hundred euros more expensive each year.

Strongest increase for electricity in Vienna and Lower Austria
At more than 30% (see chart below), grid fees for electricity are rising most sharply in Lower Austria and Vienna, followed by Styria with 29% and Upper Austria with 25.6%. Electricity grid fees in Burgenland are also rising at 23.6% above the Austrian average.

Of the larger grid areas, electricity grid costs are highest in Carinthia. According to preliminary documents, Carinthia Grid will charge 11.77 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) from January. It will also be more than ten cents in Innsbruck, Lower Austria and Styria. The lowest grid fees are in Vorarlberg and Linz at around seven cents.

Grid fees for gas up to 29.4% higher
At 29.4%, the grid fees for gas will increase the most in Upper Austria, followed by Burgenland with 21.7% and Lower Austria with 21.2%. They will rise by around 14% in Vienna, Vorarlberg and Styria and by around 9% in Tyrol and Salzburg. The smallest increase is in Carinthia at 1.5 percent.

The highest costs for the gas network will be in Vienna, where they are expected to be 2.73 cents per kWh. This is followed by Burgenland with 2.65 cents and Tyrol and Upper Austria with 2.48 and 2.45 cents respectively. The lowest gas grid fees are in Salzburg at 1.72 cents and Vorarlberg at 1.78 cents. At 1.85 cents, the grid fees in Lower Austria also remain below the 2-cent mark.

The grid fees are part of the electricity bill and make up around a third of the total costs, the other two components are the pure energy price - only here is a change of supplier possible - as well as taxes and levies. The grid costs reported by the grid operators are checked by E-Control for appropriateness and distributed to customers in the form of grid fees according to their consumption.

Higher grid fees because energy consumption is falling
The reason for the sharp rise in grid fees in 2025 is that, on the one hand, the amount of energy drawn from the grid is falling, while at the same time the costs of maintaining and expanding the grids are increasing. This means that higher costs will be spread over fewer energy units consumed.

Electricity and gas bills are also likely to be higher in 2025 for another reason. In 2022, the levies on electricity and natural gas were reduced to a minimum due to the energy crisis. This regulation expires at the end of 2024; an extension would require an amendment to the law.

End of the electricity price brake at the end of the year
The electricity cost subsidy, also known as the electricity price brake, will also end at the end of the year. In total, household energy bills could therefore rise by several hundred euros a year, depending on the grid area and consumption.

It is also still unclear whether and to what extent the renewable energy subsidy and renewable energy flat rate will apply in the coming year. These were suspended in 2022 and 2023 and financed from the budget this year.